Address upon the life and services of Gen. William R. Davie

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ADDRESS
BY
HON. WALTER CLARK,
vssociATfc: Justice of the Supreme Court,
ON
THE LIFE AND SERVICES
OF
GKN. WILLIAM R. DAYIK,
At the Guilford Battle-Ground,
JULY 4th, 1892.
Published by the Guilford Battle-Ground Company.
GREENSBORO:
REECE AND ELAM, PRINTERS,
\
AX ADDRESS
UPON
THE LIFE AND SERVICES
OF
GKN. WILLIAM R. DAVIK
" A Great Man in an Age of Great Men."
/
BY WALTER CLARK.
}i
,^|lV OF C0h3iff(.
1892
Delivered at the Celebration on the Battle-Field of
Guilford Court House.
4th JULY, 1892.
My Fellow Countrymen :
From the burning bush on Horeb's Mount came the
voice, " Put off thy shoes from off thy feet for the place
whereon thou standest is holy ground." That place was
for the moment sacred from the visible manifestation of
the presence of God. But if there is on this earthly sphere
a spot which is for all ages consecrated ground it surely
must be that on v.'hich man has died for man. Thither rev-erential
generations should flock in never ceasing proces-sion
in gratitude for the sublime denial of self which has
secured them the blessings of liberty and of a govern-ment
of the people by and for the people. Among those
hallowed spots this claims a high pre-eminence. From
the field of battle here the shattered, bleeding British
army reeled away. Claiming a nominal triumph, but re-ceiv^
ing a deadly wound, it receded from the Pyrrhic vic-tory
here to furl forever its baffled banners around their
shattered staffs at Yorktown. The defeat of the Conti-nentals
at Bunker Hill was a lost battle, pure and simple
without compensations. But upon the summit of that
hill there has for long years stood one of the noblest
monuments of this country. The corner stone thereof
was laid amid imposing ceremonies. The venerable La
Fayette and Governors and Generals and thronging mul-titudes
and martial music and hoarse throated cannon
were there, and the greatest orator of the age said in well
remembered phrase: " Let it rise; let it rise till it meet
the sun in his coming; let the earliest rays of morning
gild it, and parting day linger and play upon its summit."
It is to the honor, not the opprobium of New England
that the grand shaft stands there in eternal honor of the
men who on that memorable day oi June, 1775, " vainly
brave, died for a cause they could not save." But it is not
well that for more than a century this spot, far more de-serving
of remembrance and honor, was left in primeval
wilderness, in total neglect and entire oblivion.
The oft quoted remark of Dr. Johnson that " that man
is little to be envied whose patriotism does not receive an
added force on the plains of Marathon and whose piety
does not grow warmer amid the ruins of lona," is more
than a mere sentiment. It is founded upon a knowlege
of the deepest emotions of the the human heart—emo-tions
which do it highest honor. It is well that we are
here. It is well that by our presence we testify our re-spect
for the dead who died here, and for the eternal
principles and for the great cause of human freedom for
which they died. Your presence too is an unmistakable
testimonial of gratitude and honor to the distinguished
citizen whose patriotism and public spirit set on foot the
movement which has redeemed the neglect with which
our State had treated this spot. His clear intellect and
brilliant pen have done justice at last to the North Caro-linians
of Eaton's and Butler's Brigades—those untried
troops who faced on this slope the trained veterans of
England. Their deadly fire, our enemies themselves be-ing
witnesses, filled that field with British dead. They
retired in obedience to orders, but that retreat had for
these many years been misrepresented, and their memory
permitted to remain under a cloud. Judge Schenck un-dertook
the refutation of the slander, gray with the mist
of so many years. He has vindicated the fair fame of
these North Carolinians. With patriotic devotion he has
redeemed this field from oblivion and its defenders from
obloquy. Governors, and Senators, and Judges will be
forgotten, but the work which he has done for the people
5
of this State in vindicating the memory of their calumni-ated
dead will be remembered to his honor "far, far on
in Summers which we shall not see." In rescuing their
fame he has more surely perpetuated his own.
A free people can not safely forget those who have led
it up to the light—those who, when disaster threatened,
knew how to draw a newresource from despair. As the
glories of Miltiades would not allow the young Themis-tocles
to sleep, so the virtues, the courage, the unshaken
devotion of those who led the barefooted, bleeding columns
of liberty should be perpetual examples to the present
and all future generations. In the language of inspiration
"Our dead shall not go down to us dead." Plutarch
records the name of a mother thus: "Of Thrace my race,
Abrotonon my name, my son enrolls me in the lists o
fame—the great Themistocles." So it is by the fame of
her sons that a State is emblazoned on the rolls of fame
She should keep bright the memory of their fame that her
own may shine and that by emulation successive sons in
the hour of danger and stress shall ever be prompt to
stand forth ready for any duty, equal to any sacrifice, in
rivalry and in memory of the heroes who have stepped
forth like bridegrooms at the call of patriotism and honor.
North Carolina has many dead whose fame, had they
lived in New England or Virginia, would have been
blazoned high up on the Bead Roll of fame. But our
State has loomed up always grander in war than in
Peace. With her the blood of her sons has been cheaper
than ink. She has known how to make history, but not
how to write it—eager to win victories, careless to record
them.
A distinguished citizen on this spot a year ago, in
graceful speech, narrated the grand but simple story,
w^hich after long and patient investigation, he had been
able to win from the rapidly closing silence, of the life and
services of "one of the Heroes of 1776"—Gen. Jethro Sum-ner.
Mine is the humbler task to call to your attention to
something of the life story of one who having lived to a
later day, is somewhat better known. But though he
was so prominent in civil as well as military life, the ma-terials
left are so meager that I fear I can only give you
a dry summary of the more prominent events of a career
which was so full of deeds, so varied, so eventful that a
volume could scarce do it justice. A dashing cavalry of-ficer,
a patriot spending his entire fortune as well as his
blood for his country; a lawyer of the largest attainments
and an orator of superb eloquence, a member of the
National Constitutional Convention of 1787 and of the
North Carolina Convention of 1788; the founder of your
State University, Grand Master of Masons, Governor of
the State, Minister to France—we rarely hear of him now
but when the young century stood at the threshold fame
had in these parts no greater favorite than the brave,
handsome, eloquent soldier and statesman. General Wm.
R. Davie, of the county of Halifax. Him I now present
to you. He lives, and should always live, in what he did
for the cause of liberty and for t!ie glory and welfare of
North Carolina.
William Richardson Davie was born at Egremont, near
Whitehaven, Cumberland County in the north of England,
on June 2^th, 1756. He was brought over to this country
by his father, Archibald Davie, who, upon the peace of
1763, made a visit to America, and was left in the care of
his maternal uncle. Rev. William Richardson, a Presby-terian
clergyman residing in the Waxhaw settlement on
the Catawba river in South Carolina. Having no chil-dren
Mr. Richardson adopted his nephew and namesake,
who became heir to his estate. At the usual age young
Davie was sent to the "Queen's Museum"—the well
known Academy and High School in Charlotte. From
thence he entered at Nassau Hall, Princeton College,
New Jersey of which the famous Dr. Witherspoon was
then President. In the summer of 1776 with the consent
of the President, a party of students, among whom Davie
was one, was raised and served as volunteers in the pa-triot
army. In the fall of that year he returned to Col-lege
and passing his examinations took his College de-gree
of Bachelor of Arts with the first honors of the in-stitution.
His uncle died before his return home. Davie
selected, the profession of law and began his studies at
Salisbury. In 1777 he joined a detachment of 1,200 men
under General Jones, ordered to be raised for the defence
of Charleston, then threatened with another attack; but
on reaching Camden it was found that the design was
abandoned by the enemy and the detachment returned
home after three months service. In 1779 a troop of
Cavalry was raised in the Salisbury district. Of this
William Barnett, of Mecklenburg, was chosen Captain
and Davie, Lieutenant. His commission, signed by Gov.
Caswell, is dated 5 April, 1779. With 200 horse he was
immediately sent into the back country to suppress a
tory rising, but it was quelled before their arrival. Soon
after the troop joined the Southern Army and was at-tached
to Pulaski's Legion.
Captain Barnett having resigned Davie was promoted
to Captain,, and shortly thereafter was made Major. On
June 20th of that year, Davie took part in the battle of
Stono near Charleston. In this battle the North Carolina
Brigade was commanded by Gen. Jethro Sumner. In a
cavalry charge on that day Davie was wounded and fell
from his horse, but , retained hold of the bridle. The
cavalry, dispirited by his fall, were in full retreat when a
private in another company whose horse had been shot
under him and was carrying off his saddle, saw Major
Davie standing by his horse unable to mount him, his
8
thigh being- disabled by his wound. Though the enemy
were in a few yards, this man deliberately placed him
on his horse and led him from the field. His deliverer
then disappeared and resumed his place in the ranks,
and Davie could find no trace of him. The wound was a
severe one, and kept Davie long in the hospital at
Charleston, rendering him incapable of further service
that year. At the siege of 'Ninety-Six, two years later,
where Davie was present as Commissary-General of the
Southern Army, on the morning of the attack, a stranger
came to his tent and introduced himself as the man who had
saved his life at Stono. He promised to visit him again,
but when the troops were recalled from the fruitless at-tempt
to storm the fort the body of the gallant unknown
was found among the dead. On his return from the
Charleston hospital in September 1779, Davie being unfit
for service, applied for and received his county court
license and was sent by the Governor to attend the
courts on the Holston river, then in North Carolina, that
he might ascertain public sentiment in that section. In
the spring of 1780 he received his Superior Court license.
About the same time he obtained authority from the
Legislature of North Carolina to raise a troop of cavalry
and two companies of mounted Infantry. The authority
was all that the State could give, its funds being
too low to provide the means. Major Davie, with a pa-triotism
worthy of perpetual remembrance, disposed of
the estate inherited from his uncle and thus raised the
funds to equip his command.
The surrender of Charleston, 12th May, 1780, and the
surprise and butchery of Buford's men by Colonel Tarle-ton
on the 29th of the same month, completed the subju-gation
of South Carolina. Colonel Moore, with iioo
tories, having collected at Ramsour's Mills in the edge
of the present town of Lincolnton, Col. Francis Locke
with 300 militia of Burke, Lincoln and Rowan, crossed
the Catawba at Beattie's Ford, while General Rutherford
acting in concert with him with 700 troops, among whom
was Davie and his command, crossed at Tuckaseege
ford. The two divisions were to meet in the night near
the enemy and attack at break of day. Rutherford's
march being circuitous, was delayed, but Colonel Locke,
notwithstanding the disparity of force, attacked alone
and won a complete victory. Rutherford arrived about
an hour after the action, and dispatched Major Davie
in pursuit of the fugitives. Shortly after Major Davie
was ordered to take post near the South Carolina line,
opposite Hanging Rock, to prevent the enemy from for-aging
and to check the depredations of the tories w^ho
infested that section. He was reinforced by some South
Carolinians under Major Crawford, by 35 Catawba In-dians
under their Chief, New River, and by part of the
Mecklenburg militia. With part of his dragoons and
some volunteers he left cam.p 20th July, 1780, to inter-cept
a convoy of provisions and clothing destined for
the enemy at Hanging Rock, eighteen miles distant
Marching all night, he turned the enemy's flank
and fell into the Camden road five miles below Haneine
Rock. Here he awaited the convoy which appeared in
the afternoon, and it was surprised and completely cap-tured
with all the stores.
About the last of July, Colonel Sumter with the South
Carolina refugees, and Colonel Irwin with the North
Carolina troops advanced to the attack of Rocky Mount
while Major Davie was to make a diversion to engage
the attention of the enemy at Hanging Rock. His de-tachment
consisted of 80 mounted men. In sight of the
enemy's camp he fell upon three corhpanies of their
mounted infantry returning from an excursion. Taken
by surprise they were literally cut to pieces almost before
10
they were aware of his presence. Sixty valuable horses
with their furniture and lOO rifles and muskets were
carried off by Davie in safety, without the loss of a
man. On August 5th, an attack was ordered upon Hang-ing
Rock by Colonel Sumter, who commanded in per-son
the 800 troops engaged in the expedition. Of these
500 were North Carolians commanded by Colonel Irwin
and Major Davie. The troops halted at midnight within
two miles of the enemy's camp, which they attacked
next morning at daylight. The British regulars were
commanded by Major Carden while among the aux-iliaries
were several tory regiments. One was composed
of tories from the upper Yadkin, commanded by Col-onel
Bryan (whom Davie afterwards defended when
tried for treason at Salisbury) and another mostly
of South Carolinians, but led by Colonel John Hamil-ton
of Halifax, who for many years after the war
was British Consul at Norfolk. The attack at first
was completely successful, but from lack of discipline
many of the troops plundered the camps and became in-toxicated.
A part of the British troops remaining intact
formed a hollow square and necessitated a retreat, which
^
however, was made in good order, Davie's corps cover-ing
the rear. The wounded were safely convoyed by
him to Charlotte, where by his foresight a hospital had
been established. It is worthy of note that on this ride
to the attack at Hanging Rock by Davie's side rode as
guides conversant with the roads and of undoubted
courage and patriotism,- two country lads—brothers, re-spectively
aged 15 and 13 years. The younger of the
two was destined to see many another field of carnage
and his name has filled long and well the sounding trump
of fame—Andrew Jackson. Long years after, in the re-tirement
of the Hermitage he said that Davie was the
best soldier he had ever known and that his best lessons
in the art of war had been learned from him.
n
On Davie's return from Charlotte he hastened to the
general rendezvous of Gates' Army at Rugely's Mills.
On August i6th, while hastening to join General Gates
at Camden and ten miles from the battle field Major
Davie met the defeated army with the General leading
the retreat. He ordered Davie to fall back on Charlotte
who replied that his men had formed the acquaintance of
Tarleton's Legion and did not fear to meet them again.
He continued his course towards the battle-ground,
meeting the flying fragments of the routed army. He
secured several wagons loaded with clothing and medi-cine
which had been abandoned. With great- thought-fulness
he immediately sent an officer to notify Colonel
Sumter of the great disaster which had befallen our arms.
He reached Sumter that evening, who at once began
his retreat along the west bank of the Catawba, towards
the up country. Not taking sufficient precaution, how-ever,
Sumter was surprised on the i8th by Tarleton at
Fishing Creek, and his entire command of 800 men was
captured or put to flight with the total loss of all his ar-tillery,
arms and baggage. Col. Sumter himself, who
was asleep under a w^agon w^hen the attack was made,
barely escaped and the next day reached Davie's camp
at Charlotte alone, riding on horseback, without saddle
or bridle. The tidings carried consternation into the
fragments of Gates' army w^hich had rallied there, and in
a few moments Davie and his command w^ere the only
force left in front of the enemy. Instead of retiring he
boldly advanced to the Waxhaws and found that the en-emy
had fallen back to Camden.
On the 5th of September, 1780, Davie was appointed
by Governor Nash, Colonel Commandant of Cavalry in
the Western District of North Carolina with instructions
to raise a regiment. When he had collected onh' about
seventy men, with that force and two small compatiies of
12
riflemen commanded by Major Geo. Davidson he took
post at Providence, twenty-five miles from the British
camp. Cornwallis, after resting at Camden till the first
week in September, had advanced to the Waxhaws forty
miles below Charlotte, while the fragments of the Amer-ican
army were slowly gathering at Hillsboro, 200 miles
distant. South Carolina was w^holly subjugated and North
Carolina had not recovered from the shock of Gates' de-feat.
Under these circumstances Colonel Davie, with
unprecedented boldness, with a command not exceeding
150 men all told, on the 20th of September turning the
right flank of the British Army by a circuitous march fell
upon 300 or 400 of the enemy at Wahab's plantation.
The attack was made at daylight. The surprise was
complete.
The enemy left fifteen or twenty dead on the field and
had some forty wounded. Davie got off safely with the
captured horses and had only one man wounded. The
enemy at once caused the farm buildings which belonged
to Captain Wahab, then a volunteer with Davie, to be
laid in ashes. Davie brought off ninety-six horses and
their furniture and 120 stand of arms and arrived in
camp the same afternoon, having marched sixty miles in
less than twenty-four hours, including the time employed
in seeking and beating the enemy. That evening Gen's
Sumner and Davidson arrived at his camp with their force
of 1000 badly equipped militia.
On the 24th of September the American patrols gave
notice that the force of the enemy was in motion on the
Steele Creek road, leading to Charlotte. Gen's Sumner
and Davidson retreated by Phifers on the nearest road to
Salisbury. Colonel Davie, with 150 mounted men and
some volunteers under Maj. Joseph Graham, was left
alone in front of the British army, and he was ordered to
observe the enemy and skirmish with his advance. On
13
the evening and night of the 25th he took a number of
prisoners and at midnight took up his position at Char-lotte,
seVen miles from the spot where Earl Cornwallis
had encamped. Early on the 26th his patrols were
driven in by the enemy's light troops and in a few mo-ments
the legion and light infantry were seen advancing,
followed by the whole army. Davie was reinforced in
the night by a few volunteers under Maj. Joseph Graham.
Charlotte was then a village of about twenty houses,
built on two streets, which crossed each others at right
angfles. At their intersection stood the court house.
Colonel Davie dismounted one company and stationed it
under the court house where they were protected by a
stone wall. The other two companies were advanced
about eighty yards and posted behind some houses and
gardens. The legion formed at a distance of three hun-dred
yards with a front to fill the street. On sounding
the charge the enemy's cavaly advanced at full gallop,
but at sixty yards from the court house the Americans
opened fire and drove them back with great precipitation
A second and third charge had the same result. But
being outflanked by the legion infantry Davie withdrew
his companies in good order, successively covering each
other and retreated on the Salisbury road. The enemy
followed with great caution and respect for some distance,
when they at length ventured to charge the small rear
guard. In this charge Lieutenant'Locke and four pri-vates
were killed and Major Graham and five privates
wounded. The coolness and skill of Davie in this ever
memorable combat in which, with a mere handful of men,
he held the whole British Army for hours at bay and
drove back repeatedly its best troops and finally brought
off his command unbroken and in good order, stamp him
as a soldier of no ordinary capacity. He was at this time
twenty-four years of age. Gov. Graham says of him,
14
"he was prudent, vigilant, intrepid and skillful in his
movements against the enemy and with a charming pres-ence,
a ready eloquence and an undaunted spirit he was
among the young men of the day as Harry Percy 'to the
chivalry of England.'" He also terms him, "one of the
most accomplished and elegant gentleman of the revolu-tionary
race." Besides his abilities as a leader he was
an expert swordsman. It is said in "Gordon's Anec-dotes
of the Revolution" that he had slain more men in
personal encounters in battle than any man in the army.
The next day, after the brilliant affair at Charlotte,
Col. Davie joined the army at Salisbury where recruits
having come in and Col. Taylor from Granville having
joined him, his force consisted of 300 mounted infantry
and a few dragoons. Gen's Sumner and Davidson con-tinued
their retreat across the Yadkin while Davie re-turned
towards Charlotte, where he so vexed the British
by cutting off the forage parties and beating up their ad-vanced
posts that Cornwallis began to feel great distress
for want of forage and supplies. (Tarleton's Campaigns
184). The British officer declared he had "found a rebel
in every bush outside his encampment." On October 7
occurred the disastrous defeat of Ferguson at King's
Mountain, and on the night of October 14, Cornwallis
began his retreat to South Carolina, followed by Davie,
who harassed his rear and captured part of his baggage.
On the 19th the British crossed the Catawba at Land's
Ford and completely evacuated the State of North Caro-lina.
When Gen. Greene took command of the Southern
Army in December 1780 he and Col. Davie met for the
first time. The Commissary Department became vacant
by the resignation of Col. Thomas Polk. The subsistence
of the army had become very difficult and Col. Polk de-clared
that it had become impossible. Gen. Greene
having formed a high estimate of Col. Davie's abilities,
15
earnestly and in most flattering terms solicited him to re-linquish
his hopes of brilliant service in the field and ac-cept
the vacant office. At the call of patriotism he
abandoned the tempting career which lay before him and
assumed the not less important but more unpleasant and
arduous duties of a station which offered no distinctions.
Gen. Greene had himself set the example, having relin-quished
a brilliant career in the field to assume for years
the duties of Quarter-Master General of the Army. Col.
Davie assumed the duties of his new post in January 1781,
and continued with the army for the next five months.
Hardly any combination of circumstances could exist
presenting greater difficulties to the Commissary of an
army than those under which he began. With a depre-ciated,
almost worthless currency, and an exhausted
country his only resource was to receive from the willing
and extort from the reluctant such means of subsistence
as they possessed, a service requiring promptness and
vigor among the disaffected and skill and discretion
among the friendly. These duties were well performed
and while they make no display on the page of history
their efficient discharge was more really useful to the
cause and contributed more to the success of the army
than the most brilliant services of the most brilliant offi-cer
in the field. In that capacity he was present in the
memorable battle at this place. Though he had, of
course, no command he was a watchful observer of all
the movements of the fight and distinguished himself by
his efforts to rally the broken ranks and bring them again
into the field. After Judge Schenck's vivid description
of this battle it would be a twice told tale to recount its
incidents. It may be well to recall, however, that
Eaton's Brigade was composed of men from Warren,
Franklin, Nash, Halifax and Northampton Counties,
while Butler's men were from the present Counties of
Wake, Durham, Orange, Alamance, Vance, Granville,
Person and Caswell. No race o( people has changed less
by infiltration of foreign immigraton. It is in warp and
woof the same it was a hundred years ago. 'Those who
know them well, know that they are "the blue hen's own
chickens" and it is not to be believed (if all other proof
was wanting) that men of that stock ever left any fair
field of fight in a body save in honor.
It was here that Col. Davie, seeing the veteran ist
Maryland permit the enemy to approach to close quarters,
while it remained apparently inert and impassive, ex-claimed
with great emotion, "Great God! is it possible
Col. Gunby will surrender himself and his whole Regi-ment
to the British.?" He had scarce spoken when the
command having been given, their fire, like a sheet of
flame, swept off the enemy's first line. This was followed
up by a bayonet charge from Gunby. The hostile lines
became so intermingled and the moment so critical that
Cornwallis, to save himself, caused his cannon to open
upon the mass of struggling men and swept off friend and
foe alike. This he did against the remonstrance of Gen.
O'Hara, who was lying wounded on the ground and
whose men were thus being destroyed at short range by
the cannon of their own army.^
Col. Davie continued with the army and was present at
Hobkirk's Hill on April 25th, at the evacuation of Camden
and the siege of Ninety-Six. While the army lay before
Ninety-Six, Gen. Greene found it necessary to send him
as a confidential messenger to the Legislature of North
Carolina to represent to that body the wants of his army
*NOTE.—At Toulon in 1793, this Gen. O'Hara commanded. It was there that Napo-leon
Bonaparte, then Lieut. Colonel of Artillery, first displayed his military genius.
He detected, and caused to be seized, the point which would necessitate the evacua-tion
of the city by the British. Gen. O'Hara at the head of 3 000 men made an assault
by night to reco'ver it. In this O'Hara was wounded and captured and Bonaparte
himself received a bayonet wound in the thigh. The assault being repulsed Toulon
was evacuated and the career of Napoleon began. Sir Walter Scott savs: 'On that
night of conflagraition, tears and blood the st;ir of Napoleon first rose in the ascendant
and though it shone over many a scene of terror ere it set it may be doubted if it ever
saw one more dreadful."
^7
and that his almost sole reliance for assistance was from
them. Col. Davie's knowledge of the members and tact
were such that he procured a most generous contribution
by the General Assembly of men and supplies. The exi-gencies
of the service and the equipment of the new
levies required him to remain in North Carolina, and in
July, 1781, he entered on his duties as Commissary Gen-eral
of this State, which post he filled till the end of the
war. The finances of the State were in a desperate con-dition,
and the country was well nigh exhausted by the
requisitions of both hostile and friendly armies, and be-sides,
supplies had to be dispatched to our troops operat-ing
in South Carolina. No duties could be more arduous
or more admirably performed than those which fell to
Col. Davie's lot at this stage of the war. Transporta-tion
was lacking, even for the supplies which could be
obtained. The future seemed uncertain as to everything.
No post could more sorely have tried the patience of any
man. It argues a versatility of talents for a brilliant
cavalry officer to execute with patience the duties of
such a station, and a rare self denial to lay aside the op-pDrtunities
of distinction for the exactions of so wearying
and humdrum a post. To add to other troubles, he had
to deal, during the year 178 1, with three different Gov-ernors
of entirely different views and dispositions. Gov.
Nash had resigned in disgust at the proceedings of the
Legislature; Gov. Burke had been taken prisoner and
Gov. Martin completed the year. So feeble at times was
the support of the Government that some of the most
pressing supplies were procured by Davie on his own
credit. Complex and numerous as were his accounts,
when he laid down his office he invited the severest Leg-islative
scrutiny, but no objection to them could be found.
The war being over Col. Davie resumed the practice
of his profession in February 178^3. About the same time
i8
he married Miss Sarah Jones, the daug-htcr of Gen. Allen
Jones, of Northampton, and niece of Willie Jones, of
Halifax, and settled in the latter town as his place of fu-ture
residence. It was at that time practically the capital
of the State. The sessions of the General Assembly had
been more frequently held at that place, and it was there
that most of the executive business of the State was
transacted.
He was a brilliant advocate, and possessed a natural
aptitude for the practice of law. The State at that time
was divided into seven Judicial Districts: Halifax, New
Berne, Wilmington, Edenton, Hillsboro, Salisbury and
Morganton. To these, in 1787, Fayetteville was added.
The Superior Courts were held only* at these places, and
not as now at a Court House in each County. Colonel
Davie took the circuit and attended in turn all the Supe-rior
Courts of the State, except that held at Morganton.
An examination of the dockets shows that' he soon
commanded a leading practice in all these courts. At
some places and at some terms the dockets show that he
appeared without exception on one side or the other of
every civil case upo*n the docket. After the suspension
of business for so many years the dockets were large too.
His practice was very lucrative and he quickly accumu-lated
a large estate.
An examination of our published reports shows numer-ous
cases of importance in which he was counsel. Prob-ably
the most important were Hamilton vs. Eaton, i N.
C. 84, which held the State Confiscation Act repealed by
the U. S. Treaty of Peace with England, and Bayard vs.
Singleton, i N. C, 42, which was the first case in Amer-ica
which asserted the power and duty of the courts to
declare an act of the Legislature unconstitutional. It
also held the confiscation acts against the late tories in-valid.
Iredell, Johnston and Davie appeared for the sue-
^9
cessfill plaintiff, and Moore and Nash for the defendant.
With the chivah-y of his nature it was most natural
that when the tory, Colonel Bryan, with whom he had so
often crossed swords, was arraigned and tried at Salisbury
in 17S2 for treason, Col. Davie was one of the counsel
who conducted his defense. In this he' displayed a cour-age
of the forum no less brilliant and commendable than
his conduct in the field. Indeed Davie, thouc!"h the \'ouno:-
est, became in fact the principal counsel. Excitement
ran so high that no lesser favorite than "the hero of
Charlotte" could command attention. Bryan was con-victed
with several others, and was sentenced to be hung
the 14th of April, 1782, but was pardoned and exchanged.
Judge Murphy of the Superior Court of North Carolina
who had the opportunity of judging and whose opinion is
of high value, says, " Davie took Lord BoHngbrook for
his model and applied himself with so much diligence to
the study of his master that literary men could easily
recognize his lofty and flowing style. He was a tall, ele-gant
man in his person; graceful and commanding in his
manners. His voice was mellow and adapted to the ex-pression
of every passion. His style was magnificent
and flowing. He had a greatness of manner in public
speaking which suited his style and gave his speeches an
imposing effect. He was a laborious sti^dent and a'-
ranged his discourses with care and wdien the subject
suited his genius poured forth a torrent of eloquence that
astonished and delighted his audience. They looked
upon him w-ith delight, listened to his long harmonious
periods, caught his emotions, and indulged that ecstac}' of
feeling which fine speaking and powerful eloquence can
alone produce. He is certainly to be ranked among the first
orators whom the American nation has produced." It is
said of him, with probably small exaggeration, that dur-ing
15 years while he was at the bar there was not a cap-
20
ital trial in North Carolina in which he was not retained
for the defense. Eminent as he was it was not for the
lack of worthy competitors. James Iredell and Alfred
Moore, successively Justices of the Supreme Court of the
United States, Francois Xavier Martin, after Chief Justice
of Louisiana, and Judge John Haywood, afterwards of
Tennessee, and many others were his contemporaries.
His brief books, some of which are still in existence, are
models of neatness and care and show a most careful
summary of the evidence and citation of authority in
each case. Among his law students were Governor and
U. S. Senator David Stone, Mr. Justice Daniel, of our
Supreme Court and many others who became distinguished
men. Judge Daniel said of him that he was the best
lawyer and most accomplished man he had ever known.
It is stated of him in comparison with his great legal
rival, John Haywood, that while the latter carefully pre-pared
every point, Davie would seize the strong points of
the case and throw his whole strength upon them. In
this he seems to have retained the experience and in-stincts
of his soldier life. As a characteristic of his ele-gant
tastes and attention to details it is said that an ex-amination
of his correspondence shows that his letters
were invariably written upon gilt edge paper.
When the Convention was called to meet at Philadel-phia
in May, 1787, which formed our present Federal
Constitution, he was elected one of the delegates. The
others were the then Governor Richard Caswell, Ex-Gov.
Alexander Martin, Richard Dobbs Spaight, who, like
Davie himself, was subsequently Governor, William
Blount, afterwards U. S. Senator and Hugh Williamson,
afterwards a member of Congress and a historian. Gov.
Caswell did not attend. Col. Davie was the junior mem-ber
of the delegation, being then, notwithstanding his
distinguished career as a soldier and his high standing at
21
the bar, not yet 31 }"ears of age. Still his eloquence and
influence made a decided impression upon the Conven-tion.
The Constitution all through is the result of a com-promise.
But the critical question was the equal repre-sentation
of each State in the Senate. Upon this it
seemed likely the Convention would be dissolved. The
large States were firm for proportional representation.
With the smaller States an equal voice in the Senate was
a si?ie qua noii. On that question North Carolina voted
with the other large States against the demands of the
smaller States and this made the vote a tie, as Georgia
on purpose evenly divided her vote. The friends of the
Constitution, fearing a disruption, referred the question to
a Committee composed of one from each State. Davie
was the member of the Committee from North Carolina.
When the Committee made its report, Davie, acting for
North Carolina, gave her vote with the smaller States
and thus by one majority was equal representation in the
Senate secured. Without it the Convention would doubt-less
have adjourned after a useless session. The Con-stitution
without 1 hat wise concession could not have been
adopted, and if adopted by the Convention its ratification
by the smaller States could not have been expected.
This act was certainly against the wishes of his own State,
then the 3rd, in point of population, in the Confederacy,
ranking next after Virginia and Massachusetts and ahead
of New York. It was also apparently against the inter-ests
of his State, but the act was that of a Statesman and
should be recalled to his lasting honor. It wa/ls a critical
moment, when a narrow minded man in his place, timid
of responsibility and fearful of his own popularity at
home would have prevented or postponed for many years
the American Union. He remained in Philadelphia till
the deliberations of the Convention were virtually over
and the adoption of the Constitution had become certain.
22
Then, in obedience to his duty to his clients, as the fall
circuit was about to begin, he left for home. Hence it is
that his name does not appear among those appended to
that instrument. The Constitution being the work of
many hands and containing so many alterations and
amendments would naturally have been rough and ill-joined,
containing a variety of styles. It is worthy of
note that the convention considerately referred it to a
committee of one—Governeur Morris—an accomplished
scholar, to make changes " of form not of substance."
Under his hand it was polished and put in shape, and
hence the uniform flow and regularity oT its language.
But the work was not yet done. The Constitution was
yet to be ratified by the Conventions of the several States.
When the North Carolina Convention met at Hillsboro
July 21, 1788, a formidable opposition was arrayed against
its adoption, headed by Willie Jones, David Caldwell,
Judge Spencer and others. The friends of adoption were
led by James Iredell, a remarkably able man, and Col.
Davie aided by Spaight, McLaine, Steele and others.
The adoption of the Constitution was at that time de-feated.
After the adoption subsequently of the Federal
Constitution by North Carolina, President Washington
tendered the appointment of United States District
Judge to Davie, who declined it. Col. Stokes was ap-pointed
but soon dying, John Sitgreaves was appointed,
probably through Davie's influence. He had married his
wife's sister.
By his wife he had acquired a valuable plantation near
Halifax, which he took pleasure in cultivating and he
evinced a deep interest in introducing there a better sys-tem
of farming. His enterprise and public spirit pro-cured
the organization of a company for the proposed
drainage of Lake Scuppernong.
A friend of education, in 1786 he obtained from the
23
General Assembly the charter of Warrenton Academy
and had himself, with Willie Jones, Thomas Person, Ben-jamin
Hawkins and other prominent men named as the
Board of Trustees. He was chosen repeatedly, except
when his private business constrained him to decline an
election, to represent the borough of Halifax in the
House of Commons. He served thus in the years 1786,
1787, 1789, 1791, 1793, I794i 1795 and 1798. He was the
real founder of the University of North Carolina and is
so styled in the Journal of 18 10 of that institution and
well deserved to be so called. Judge Murphy bears this
testimony: " I was present in the House of Commons
when Davie addressed that body (in 1789) for a loan of
money to erect the buildings of the University and al-though
more than 30 years have elapsed I have the most
vivid recollections of the greatness of his manner and
the power of his eloquence upon that occasion. In the
House of Commons he had no rival and on all questions
before that body his eloquence was irresistable." He
procured the Act of Incorporation to be passed in 1789,
and other aid, and was always a fostering friend.
The opposition to all the measures in favor of the Uni-versity
was great. The cry of '• economy" and the fear
expressed that the institution was one step towards the
founding of an aristocracy made it difficult to carry any
measure through. Gifted with less tact, with less elo-quence
or with less popularity Davie must have failed.
The institution is no less a monument also to his public
spirit, boldness and foresight. He was a member of the
first Board of Trustees. The selection of a site for the
University, the superintendence of the erection of the
buildings, the choice of professors, the arrangement of a
course of studies, the adoption of regulations, the main-tenance
of discipline engaged his personal and active at-tention.
Truly he might have exclaimed ''Excgi monu
24
mentuin aere pcrennins!' The course of studies adopted
at Davie's instance in 1795 was the "optional" system
which now generally obtains. In this he anticipated the
course of other colleges full fifty years. When Dr. David
Caldwell was elected President this was set aside and the
old iron bound curriculum was adopted and remained in
force 80 years.
On December 9, 1787, in the town of Tarboro, the Free
Masons of this State organized the Grand Lodge of
North Carolina. At that meeting many of the most dis-tinguished
men of the State attended, Col. Davie among
them. Gov. Johnston was elected the first Grand Master
of North Carolina, and Gov. Caswell the second Grand
Master. Davie was elected Grand Master in December
1792 and was successively re-elected for seven years. In
that capacity he laid the corner stone of the University,
October 12, 1793, (the old East building), and on April
14, 1798 he laid the corner stone of the old South Build-ing
at the same place.
The project of a digest of the laws was brought forward
by him, and the appointment of Judge Iredell, the ac-complished
jurist, to do the work was made at his sug-gestion.
The cession of the territory which now forms
the State of Tennessee was effected mainly by his influ-ence.
In 1 791 he was appointed by the Legislature one
of three Commissioners to establish the unsettled part of
the boundary between this State and South Carolina. He
was again elected for the same purpose in 1796 and again
in 1803. None of these commissions however were suc-cessful.
In 1794 he was commissioned by Gov. Spaight to be
Major General of the 3rd State Division in view of the
likelihood of war with France. By act of Congress the
24th of June, 1797, Congress directed an embodiment of
troops from the several States. The number to be raised
25
by this State under the act was 7,268 and in September
of that year he was appointed by Gov. Ashe Major Gen-eral
to command this detachment. As matters became
more serious Congress in May, 1798, authorized a Provis-ional
Army of the U. S. of io,cxx) men, and in this he
was appointed a Brigadier General by President Adams,
July 17, 1798, and was confirmed by the Senate July 19th.
Of this army Washington was made Commander in Chief
and he, in effect, committed to Gen. Davie the selection
of the officers for that part of the troops which should be
raised in this State In the same year Gen. Davie pre-pared
a system of cavalry tactics which was adopted by
the Legislature and ordered to be printed. A copy of
this is now in our State Library.
Gen. Davie came out of the war with the first military
reputation in the State, and these successive appoint-ments
so many years after prove that North Carolina still
turned to him as her greatest soldier.
Just at this time, singularly enough, when in the re-ceipt
of high honors, State and National, his election for
the borough of Halifax was first endangered. The cir-cumstance
is thus stated in a private letter from that
town, written in August, 1798: "The 'true whigs,' as
they styled themselves, dined together under the oaks
and toasted Mr. Jefferson. The other party, who were
called 'aristocrats,' ate and drank in the house on entirely
different principles. Gen. Davie dined in the house with
the 'aristocrats.' The 'true whigs' took offense at this
and resolved to oppose his election, and it was only with
much address that they were kept quiet." The writer
adds: " If any person had had the impudence to dispute
the election Gen. Davie would certainly not have been
returned. The rabble which in all places is the majority,
would have voted against him."
He took his seat when the Legislature met. By that
26
body—-the then constitutional mode—he was, on joint
ballot, elected Governor of the State December 4th, 1798,
over Benjamin Williams, (afterwards Governor), and was
inaugurated December 7th. Nothing of special note took
place during his tenure of the office. President Adams
appointed an embassy to treat with the French Directory,
consisting of Mr. Murray, then our minister to Holland,
Chief Justice Ellsworth and Patrick Henry. The latter
having declined on the ground of age and ill health, on
June I, 1799, Gov. Davie was appointed in his stead. On
September 10 he resigned the office of Governor, and on
the 22nd left Halifax to join Mr. Ellsworth at Trenton.
At his departure the people of Halifax and vicinit}^ pre-sented
him with a complimentary address, which was
written by a political adversary and signed by large num-bers
of the same party.
On November 3, 1799, Messrs. Ellsworth and Davie
embarked in the Frigate United States, from Newport, R.
I. Uncertain as to the changeable form of Government
in France they touched at Lisbon, which they reached
the 27th of November. They left the 21st of December,
but being driven out of their course by a storm they put
into Corunna the nth of January, 1800, which they left
by land on the 27th of January, and on February 9, at
Burgos, in Spain, they met a courier from Talleyrand,
the French Minister, inviting them, on the part of Bona-parte,
who had become First Consul, to proceed to Paris,
which place they reached on the 2nd of March. These
dates will show the vast difference which less than a cen-tury
has made in the modes of travelling and the trans-mission
of intelligence. On April 8, the Commissioners
were received with marked politeness by the First Con-sul.
Napoleon having left for Italy on the famous cam-paign
of Marengo, the negotiations dragged till his re-turn.
On September 30, 1800, the treaty between the
27
United States and France was signed by our Commis-sioners
and by Joseph Bonaparte, Roederer and Fleurieu
on the part of France. The conclusion of the treaty was
celebrated with eclat at Morfontaine, the country seat of
Joseph Bonaparte, the First Consul and a brilliant staff
attending. One who was then in Paris writes: "A man of
his (Davie's) imposing appearance and dignified deport-ment
could not fail to attract especial attention and remark
wherever he went. I could not but remark that Bona-parte,
in addressing the American legation at his levees
seemed for the time to forget that Governor Davie was
second \n the Commission, his attention being more par-ticularly
directed to him." In the brilliant circles of the
nascent Empire of Napoleon he was distinguished by his
elegance and his popular manners. His sojourn in Paris
was very agreeable to him. He was an accomplished
linguist and spoke French and Spanish fluently.
In the fall of that year Gov. Davie returned directly
home. Chief Justice Ellsworth calling by London was
presented at Court and Mr. Murray returned to the
Hague. It is significant that the very day after this
treaty w^as signed, France, by the treaty of St. Ildefonso,
re-acquired Louisiana from Spain, which it so soon after
sold to the United States.
On his return home Davie was solicited to become a
candidate for Congress in 1801, but his private affairs by
reason of his long absence required his attention and he
declined. Willis Alston then a member of the same po-litical
party was elected. In June of that year President
Jefferson appointed Gov. Davie head of a commission
with Gen. Wilkinson and Benjamin Hawkins to negotiate
with the Creeks and other Indians for further cession of
lands. This he declined for the same reason he had re-fused
an election to Congress. In 1802 he was appointed
by President Jefferson a Commissioner on the part of the
28
United States in the treaty to be made between North
CaroHna and the Tuscaroras, most of whom had moved
from this State, but had retained a valuable landed inter-est
in Bertie County, He met the agents of the State
and the Chiefs of the Indians at Raleigh, and the treaty
was signed December 4th, 1802, by virtue of which King
Blount* and. the remainder of the tribe removed to New
York in June, 1803. In the Spring of 1803, Alston hav-ing
gone over to the opposite political party. Gen. Davie
was again solicited by his friends to become a candidate
for Congress. He accepted the nomination but declined
to make any canvass. He was charged with being an
aristocrat and with being opposed to Mr. Jefferson, whose
prestige was then all powerful. He was defeated at the
polls.
He had lost his wife not long after his return from
France. This, together with his political defeat, deter-mined
him to withdraw altogether from public life. In
November, 1805, he removed to an estate he possessed at
Tivoli, near Landsford, in S. C, just across the line from
Mecklenburg County, in this State. Here he lived in
dignified ease and leisure.
Many men, after the buffetings of a stormy or a busy
life, have in like manner felt the need of rest before they
go hence. It was thus that the Emperor, Charles the
Fifth, at Juste and Wolsey, who had "sounded all the
depths and shoals of honor," at Leicester Abbey, had
sought to put a space of contemplation between the
active duties of life and the grave. His country, how-ever,
did not forget Gen. Davie. During the second war
with Great Britain President Madison appointed him a
Major General in the U. S. Army and he was confirmed
by the Senate the 2nd of March, 1813. But "time steals
fire from the mind as vigor from the limbs." Though not
an old man. Gen. Davie's early campaigns had told upon
*NOTE.—A descendant of King Blount is at present King of the Sandwich Islands.
29
him. The sword which twenty-five years before had al-most
leapt of itself from the scabbard w^asnow constrained
to hang idly by his side and he declined the appointment.
Gen. Harrison (afterwards President) was appointed in
his stead and fought the battle of the Thames, October
5, 1813, in which Tecumseh was slain. The next year he
in turn resigned and Gen. Andrew Jackson was appointed
to succeed him and the battle of New Orleans followed
on January 8, 181 5.
Gen. Davie's seat at Tivoli on the Catawba was the re-sort
of many of the Revolutionary characters of the
State. In their journies by private conveyance to Vir-ginia
or the North, the custom was to arrange to spend a
day or two there with him where he kept open house for
his friends and sitting under an immense oak from
which there was a view of miles of the Catawba, they
fought over the war together or discussed the work-ings
of the new government and the constitution they
had established. This was all the more interesting as
much of his campaigning had taken place on and around
this very spot. In this connection it is interesting to state
that after his retirement to Tivoli he was much sought
after and engaged in drawing wills. He drew some of
the most famous wills in that State—indeed it is said all
the wills in that part of it in which he resided—not one of
which except his own was ever assailed. In this respect
he had the fortune of Sugden Lord St. Leonards, Gov.
Tilden and many other famous lawyers. The contest
over Gov. Davie's will has just been settled by a decision
of the Supreme Court of the United States filed the 28th
of March of this year (1892) in the case oi Bcdon vs.
Davii\ 144 U. S. 142, a very interesting case.
His correspondence and other materials for history
must have been very large and. very valuable. It w^as
from his papers that the copy of the Mecklenburg Decla-
30
ration of May 20th, 1775, was procured which is known
as the "Davie Copy." Unfortunately all his family pa-pers
and all the historical material which had been care-fully
preserved by him for publication at some future time,
were destroyed during Sherman's raid. The banks of the
Catawba were said to have been strewn with them and
nothing of the collection now remains.
In retirement he displayed his accustomed public spirit
by introducing improved methods of farming and mainly at
his instance a State Agricultural Society in South Caro-lina
was formed, of which he was the first President. By
his practice at the bar he had accumulated a large estate
which he dispensed with liberality and hospitality. When
the end came he met it with the firmness of a soldier.
His sun of life went down in a cloudless sky. He passed
away the i8th of November, 1820 in the 65th year of his
age.
"The hero lies still, while the dew drooping willows
Like fond weeping mourners lean over his grave.
The lightnings may flash and the loud cannon rattle,
He heeds not, he hears not, he's free from all pain;
He sleeps his last sleep he has fought his last batt^i-
No sound can wake him to glory again."
He was buried at Waxhaw Church, Lancaster County,
S. C, just across the Catawba river from his Tivoli plan-tation.
The following modest and truthful inscription on
his tomb is said to be from the pen of his friend. Gov.
Gaston, of South Carolina:
31
In this grave are deposited the remains of
WILLIAM R. DAVIE.
The Soldier, Jurist, Statesman and Patriot.
, In the Glorious War for
AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE
He fought among- the foremost of the Brave.
As an advocate at the Bar,
He was diligent, sagacious, zealous,
Jncorruptibly Honest, of Commanding Eloquence.
In the Legislative Hall
He had no superior in enlarged vision
And profound plans of Policy.
Single in his ends, varied in his means, indefatigable
In his exertions.
Representing his Nation in an important Embassy,
He evinced his characteristic devotion to her interests
And manifested a peculiar fitness for Diplomacy.
Polished in manners, firm in action.
Candid without imprudence, wise above deceit.
A true lover of his Country, "^
Always preferring the People's good to the People's favor.
Though he disdained to fawn lor office,
He filled most of the stations to which Ambition might aspire,
And declining no Public Trust,
Enobled whatever he accepted
By true Dignity and Talent
Which he brought into the discharge of its functions.
A Great Man in an age of Great Men.
In life he was admired and beloved by the virtuous and the wise.
In death he has silenced calumny and caused envy to mourn.
He was born in Edinburgh 1756,
And died in South Carolina in 1820.
*A mistake.
32
And so the record ends and his life work was done.
" The good knight is dust,
His good sword is rust,
His soul is with the saints, we trust."
Justly does his epitaph style him, "A great man in an age
great men," for as a soldier he was the trusted compan-
•ion of Greene, as a lawyer the peer of Haywood, Iredell
and Moore, as a statesman a leader among the framers
of the Federal Constitution, as a diploinat Talle}^rand
obtained no advantage over him and by personal inter-course
he won the friendship of Washington, the confidence
of Jefferson, the esteem of Napoleon and the warm ad-miration
of Andrew Jackson. A life whose circumfer-ence
touched these points could fill no small space in the
public eye.
North Carolina does herself honor in remembering her
patriotic and illustrious son. One of the fairest Counties
of the State, seated in the fertile valley of the Yadkin
preserves his name to future times. But no storied shaft
or sculptured bust presents the record of his fame or the
lineaments of his countenance.
The cause for which the men of 1776 sacrificed them-selves
was a grand one. The world has not known a
nobler. It was one of those epochs which mark a dis-tinct
advance in the progress of the human race. Its ef-fects
were far reaching. Then was established that right
of self government which has placed 44 stars on our flag
and beneath its folds 75 millions of freemen and a terri-tory
extending over near no degrees of longitude and
almost 50 degrees of latitude. Great Britain has profited
by the lesson then taught and has established and re-tained
an enormous colonial possession extending into
every quarter of the globe by promptly granting as soon
as asked, and oft times before it has been demanded, the
very rights for which these colonies asked in vain and by
33
the denial of which she lost this country. All of Amer-ica,
North and South, has followed our example. France
immediately felt the impulse. Though her first revolu-tion
was marked with excesses and though betrayed and
thwarted in her wishes in i8i5,in 1830 and again in 1851,
w^ith sublime perseverance at every opportunity she has
returned to her first love, and since 1870 has enjoyed self
government. But there is not time to enumerate the re-sults
produced everywhere by the success of the sons of
liberty in 1776, It is sufficient to say that there is no
country where it has not been felt and no people who
have not experienced its benefits. It is glory enough for
us when we recall the great aid North Carolina gave to
that struggle and the important part that the battlefield
now before us played in that grand contest.
But we must remember that important as was that
struggle and far reaching as its effects, the result was not
a finality. It was one of those upheavals which mark a
distinct phase of human progress. But other struggles
and other upheavals are as surely before us. In the life
of a people as in the life of the individual man there must
be either progress or decline. There is no political Gib-eon
upon which the sun of progress can pause for an
hour. It must be remembered that principles which are
now so undeniable as to be commonplace were bitterly
contested and by many despised prior to the successful
issue of our Revolutionary struggle. It must be reflected,
too, that there are principles now denied or derided, which
after the next great advance of the race will become ax-iomatic
in like manner. The man who lives only to
gratify his vanity and selfishness by amassing riches for
himself will go down, as he deserves, to the "vile dust
from whence he sprung unwept, unhonored and unsung."
But the soldiers of human progress, whether Washing-tons,
Jefifersons or the nameless heroes who fall by the
34
wayside or fill unmarked graves on the battlefield have
nobly fulfilled their duty and deserve an immortality of
fame and never ending gratitude. Nay more—they de-serve
to have their example not merely recounted on
battlefields already won, but followed on the new heights
yet to be won and upon which the successive battles of
progress must be fought. The contest may be a long
one and the road winds up hill all the way—aye, to the
very end. Washington, Franklin, Jefferson, Davie and
their compeers should remain in perpetual acclaim for
their fidelity and their courage in maintaining the cause
in their day and at the stage at which the contest had
then reached. They who wish to imitate their glory will
be the true heirs of their deeds and in their own times
and according to their opportunity will faithfully and un-falteringly
uphold, with the courage of the battlefield or
of the forum as the occasion may serve those principles
which shall best serve the glory of the State and
the greatest good of the greatest number of that peo-ple
among whom Providence has seen fit to cast
their lot. Humanity has triumphs yet to win; great
progress yet to make. Old foes abound but with new
faces. To those who have " stomach for the fight" there
are surely laurels yet to gain, and fields still to conquer.
The Revolution of 1688 in England was better and
therefore more lasting than that of Cromwell's time, as
that in turn had itself been more comprehensive than any
previous movement. Our own Revolution in 1776 far
outstripped in its importance to the human race the rev-olution
of 1688. The military successes of the war were
consolidated by the consumate statesmanship and patriot-ism
of the Constitution of 1787. But even that instru-ment,
grand as it was, was not perfect. It was amended
by the generation that made it. Other amendments have
since followed and others still will assuredly be made.
35
I cannot leave this* platform and this occasion without
saying some words to the future rulers of my country.
Young men-;—you who are to shape the near-at-hand
Twentieth Century, the heights are before you. Who of
you will comprehend the duties ot the hour; who of you
have the eagle eye to discover and the iron tenacity to
follow the paths by which the mountains which bar future
progress may be won? Who of you like the men of 1776
scorning contumely, giving your hours, your fortunes and
if need be your young lives to the work, will bring hu-manity
out upon a higher plane of progress. It is given
to no mortal man but yourself to syllable the noble
names among you which are not born to die—for each
one of you must make your own election of the pathway
that leads to the stars. God alone in his wisdom can
give you success.
My task is done. Honor to Davie and the men who
with him on this field periled life that we might be freer
and better and happier; and honor and fame to those of
this day, who, understanding the nobility of the self-sac-rifice
of these men, and catching their spirit, shall, as
God give them time and opportunity, so act that posteri-ty,
looking back, shall say of them that they likewise
came up to the full stature of these heroes of 1776.
36
Note.—The following memorandum of •C}eneial Davie's descen-dants
is furnished by one of them. It is typical of the times and
the hatred of the British that so accomplished a man as General
Davie should have named one of his sons after the -Indian tyrant,
Ali, simply because he was an enemy of Great Britain :
GENERAL DAVIE'S FAMILY.
1. Allen Jones, Major in the war 1812. His descendants:
1. Dr. William R. Davie, Surgeon Florida war, 1838.
His descendants—Colonel William R. Davie, Capt.
60th Ala. Reg't C. S. A.; John M. Davie and Mary
F. Woolf, Texas; Allen J. Davie, dec'd.
2. Allen J. Davie, Oregon, died leaxang several issue.
3. Sarah, m'd, first, H. B. DeSaussure; second, Burton,
Kentucky.
4. Rosa B. McKenzie, widow of John McKenzie, Louis-ville,
Ky.
5. Octavia, widow of Hudson, Louisville, Ky.
6. Mary Fraser, wife of Edward McCrady, Charleston,
S. C.
7. Thos. W. Davie, dec'd, leaving one son.
2. Hyder Ali, died leaving only one child—a daughter
—
Julia, married R. S. Bedon, fi'om whom numerous
descendants.
3. Mary Hayne, married Crockett, issue, Texas.
4. Sarah Jones, married Hon. Wm. F. DeSaussure, had
issue. Col. Wm. D. DeSaussure, Col. 15 S. C. Reg't,
killed Gettysburg, without issue. Mrs. DeSaussure
left numerous descendants through her daughters,
Mrs. Boykin and Mrs. Burroughs, of S. C.
5. Martha Rebecca, married Dr. C. B. Jones, left issue,
C. B. Jones, of Lancaster, S. C, and Mr. Fraser of
Charleston. Numerous descendants.
6. Frederick William Davie, died without issue.
5 6 9 • .
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ADDRESS
BY
HON. WALTER CLARK,
vssociATfc: Justice of the Supreme Court,
ON
THE LIFE AND SERVICES
OF
GKN. WILLIAM R. DAYIK,
At the Guilford Battle-Ground,
JULY 4th, 1892.
Published by the Guilford Battle-Ground Company.
GREENSBORO:
REECE AND ELAM, PRINTERS,
\
AX ADDRESS
UPON
THE LIFE AND SERVICES
OF
GKN. WILLIAM R. DAVIK
" A Great Man in an Age of Great Men."
/
BY WALTER CLARK.
}i
,^|lV OF C0h3iff(.
1892
Delivered at the Celebration on the Battle-Field of
Guilford Court House.
4th JULY, 1892.
My Fellow Countrymen :
From the burning bush on Horeb's Mount came the
voice, " Put off thy shoes from off thy feet for the place
whereon thou standest is holy ground." That place was
for the moment sacred from the visible manifestation of
the presence of God. But if there is on this earthly sphere
a spot which is for all ages consecrated ground it surely
must be that on v.'hich man has died for man. Thither rev-erential
generations should flock in never ceasing proces-sion
in gratitude for the sublime denial of self which has
secured them the blessings of liberty and of a govern-ment
of the people by and for the people. Among those
hallowed spots this claims a high pre-eminence. From
the field of battle here the shattered, bleeding British
army reeled away. Claiming a nominal triumph, but re-ceiv^
ing a deadly wound, it receded from the Pyrrhic vic-tory
here to furl forever its baffled banners around their
shattered staffs at Yorktown. The defeat of the Conti-nentals
at Bunker Hill was a lost battle, pure and simple
without compensations. But upon the summit of that
hill there has for long years stood one of the noblest
monuments of this country. The corner stone thereof
was laid amid imposing ceremonies. The venerable La
Fayette and Governors and Generals and thronging mul-titudes
and martial music and hoarse throated cannon
were there, and the greatest orator of the age said in well
remembered phrase: " Let it rise; let it rise till it meet
the sun in his coming; let the earliest rays of morning
gild it, and parting day linger and play upon its summit."
It is to the honor, not the opprobium of New England
that the grand shaft stands there in eternal honor of the
men who on that memorable day oi June, 1775, " vainly
brave, died for a cause they could not save." But it is not
well that for more than a century this spot, far more de-serving
of remembrance and honor, was left in primeval
wilderness, in total neglect and entire oblivion.
The oft quoted remark of Dr. Johnson that " that man
is little to be envied whose patriotism does not receive an
added force on the plains of Marathon and whose piety
does not grow warmer amid the ruins of lona," is more
than a mere sentiment. It is founded upon a knowlege
of the deepest emotions of the the human heart—emo-tions
which do it highest honor. It is well that we are
here. It is well that by our presence we testify our re-spect
for the dead who died here, and for the eternal
principles and for the great cause of human freedom for
which they died. Your presence too is an unmistakable
testimonial of gratitude and honor to the distinguished
citizen whose patriotism and public spirit set on foot the
movement which has redeemed the neglect with which
our State had treated this spot. His clear intellect and
brilliant pen have done justice at last to the North Caro-linians
of Eaton's and Butler's Brigades—those untried
troops who faced on this slope the trained veterans of
England. Their deadly fire, our enemies themselves be-ing
witnesses, filled that field with British dead. They
retired in obedience to orders, but that retreat had for
these many years been misrepresented, and their memory
permitted to remain under a cloud. Judge Schenck un-dertook
the refutation of the slander, gray with the mist
of so many years. He has vindicated the fair fame of
these North Carolinians. With patriotic devotion he has
redeemed this field from oblivion and its defenders from
obloquy. Governors, and Senators, and Judges will be
forgotten, but the work which he has done for the people
5
of this State in vindicating the memory of their calumni-ated
dead will be remembered to his honor "far, far on
in Summers which we shall not see." In rescuing their
fame he has more surely perpetuated his own.
A free people can not safely forget those who have led
it up to the light—those who, when disaster threatened,
knew how to draw a newresource from despair. As the
glories of Miltiades would not allow the young Themis-tocles
to sleep, so the virtues, the courage, the unshaken
devotion of those who led the barefooted, bleeding columns
of liberty should be perpetual examples to the present
and all future generations. In the language of inspiration
"Our dead shall not go down to us dead." Plutarch
records the name of a mother thus: "Of Thrace my race,
Abrotonon my name, my son enrolls me in the lists o
fame—the great Themistocles." So it is by the fame of
her sons that a State is emblazoned on the rolls of fame
She should keep bright the memory of their fame that her
own may shine and that by emulation successive sons in
the hour of danger and stress shall ever be prompt to
stand forth ready for any duty, equal to any sacrifice, in
rivalry and in memory of the heroes who have stepped
forth like bridegrooms at the call of patriotism and honor.
North Carolina has many dead whose fame, had they
lived in New England or Virginia, would have been
blazoned high up on the Bead Roll of fame. But our
State has loomed up always grander in war than in
Peace. With her the blood of her sons has been cheaper
than ink. She has known how to make history, but not
how to write it—eager to win victories, careless to record
them.
A distinguished citizen on this spot a year ago, in
graceful speech, narrated the grand but simple story,
w^hich after long and patient investigation, he had been
able to win from the rapidly closing silence, of the life and
services of "one of the Heroes of 1776"—Gen. Jethro Sum-ner.
Mine is the humbler task to call to your attention to
something of the life story of one who having lived to a
later day, is somewhat better known. But though he
was so prominent in civil as well as military life, the ma-terials
left are so meager that I fear I can only give you
a dry summary of the more prominent events of a career
which was so full of deeds, so varied, so eventful that a
volume could scarce do it justice. A dashing cavalry of-ficer,
a patriot spending his entire fortune as well as his
blood for his country; a lawyer of the largest attainments
and an orator of superb eloquence, a member of the
National Constitutional Convention of 1787 and of the
North Carolina Convention of 1788; the founder of your
State University, Grand Master of Masons, Governor of
the State, Minister to France—we rarely hear of him now
but when the young century stood at the threshold fame
had in these parts no greater favorite than the brave,
handsome, eloquent soldier and statesman. General Wm.
R. Davie, of the county of Halifax. Him I now present
to you. He lives, and should always live, in what he did
for the cause of liberty and for t!ie glory and welfare of
North Carolina.
William Richardson Davie was born at Egremont, near
Whitehaven, Cumberland County in the north of England,
on June 2^th, 1756. He was brought over to this country
by his father, Archibald Davie, who, upon the peace of
1763, made a visit to America, and was left in the care of
his maternal uncle. Rev. William Richardson, a Presby-terian
clergyman residing in the Waxhaw settlement on
the Catawba river in South Carolina. Having no chil-dren
Mr. Richardson adopted his nephew and namesake,
who became heir to his estate. At the usual age young
Davie was sent to the "Queen's Museum"—the well
known Academy and High School in Charlotte. From
thence he entered at Nassau Hall, Princeton College,
New Jersey of which the famous Dr. Witherspoon was
then President. In the summer of 1776 with the consent
of the President, a party of students, among whom Davie
was one, was raised and served as volunteers in the pa-triot
army. In the fall of that year he returned to Col-lege
and passing his examinations took his College de-gree
of Bachelor of Arts with the first honors of the in-stitution.
His uncle died before his return home. Davie
selected, the profession of law and began his studies at
Salisbury. In 1777 he joined a detachment of 1,200 men
under General Jones, ordered to be raised for the defence
of Charleston, then threatened with another attack; but
on reaching Camden it was found that the design was
abandoned by the enemy and the detachment returned
home after three months service. In 1779 a troop of
Cavalry was raised in the Salisbury district. Of this
William Barnett, of Mecklenburg, was chosen Captain
and Davie, Lieutenant. His commission, signed by Gov.
Caswell, is dated 5 April, 1779. With 200 horse he was
immediately sent into the back country to suppress a
tory rising, but it was quelled before their arrival. Soon
after the troop joined the Southern Army and was at-tached
to Pulaski's Legion.
Captain Barnett having resigned Davie was promoted
to Captain,, and shortly thereafter was made Major. On
June 20th of that year, Davie took part in the battle of
Stono near Charleston. In this battle the North Carolina
Brigade was commanded by Gen. Jethro Sumner. In a
cavalry charge on that day Davie was wounded and fell
from his horse, but , retained hold of the bridle. The
cavalry, dispirited by his fall, were in full retreat when a
private in another company whose horse had been shot
under him and was carrying off his saddle, saw Major
Davie standing by his horse unable to mount him, his
8
thigh being- disabled by his wound. Though the enemy
were in a few yards, this man deliberately placed him
on his horse and led him from the field. His deliverer
then disappeared and resumed his place in the ranks,
and Davie could find no trace of him. The wound was a
severe one, and kept Davie long in the hospital at
Charleston, rendering him incapable of further service
that year. At the siege of 'Ninety-Six, two years later,
where Davie was present as Commissary-General of the
Southern Army, on the morning of the attack, a stranger
came to his tent and introduced himself as the man who had
saved his life at Stono. He promised to visit him again,
but when the troops were recalled from the fruitless at-tempt
to storm the fort the body of the gallant unknown
was found among the dead. On his return from the
Charleston hospital in September 1779, Davie being unfit
for service, applied for and received his county court
license and was sent by the Governor to attend the
courts on the Holston river, then in North Carolina, that
he might ascertain public sentiment in that section. In
the spring of 1780 he received his Superior Court license.
About the same time he obtained authority from the
Legislature of North Carolina to raise a troop of cavalry
and two companies of mounted Infantry. The authority
was all that the State could give, its funds being
too low to provide the means. Major Davie, with a pa-triotism
worthy of perpetual remembrance, disposed of
the estate inherited from his uncle and thus raised the
funds to equip his command.
The surrender of Charleston, 12th May, 1780, and the
surprise and butchery of Buford's men by Colonel Tarle-ton
on the 29th of the same month, completed the subju-gation
of South Carolina. Colonel Moore, with iioo
tories, having collected at Ramsour's Mills in the edge
of the present town of Lincolnton, Col. Francis Locke
with 300 militia of Burke, Lincoln and Rowan, crossed
the Catawba at Beattie's Ford, while General Rutherford
acting in concert with him with 700 troops, among whom
was Davie and his command, crossed at Tuckaseege
ford. The two divisions were to meet in the night near
the enemy and attack at break of day. Rutherford's
march being circuitous, was delayed, but Colonel Locke,
notwithstanding the disparity of force, attacked alone
and won a complete victory. Rutherford arrived about
an hour after the action, and dispatched Major Davie
in pursuit of the fugitives. Shortly after Major Davie
was ordered to take post near the South Carolina line,
opposite Hanging Rock, to prevent the enemy from for-aging
and to check the depredations of the tories w^ho
infested that section. He was reinforced by some South
Carolinians under Major Crawford, by 35 Catawba In-dians
under their Chief, New River, and by part of the
Mecklenburg militia. With part of his dragoons and
some volunteers he left cam.p 20th July, 1780, to inter-cept
a convoy of provisions and clothing destined for
the enemy at Hanging Rock, eighteen miles distant
Marching all night, he turned the enemy's flank
and fell into the Camden road five miles below Haneine
Rock. Here he awaited the convoy which appeared in
the afternoon, and it was surprised and completely cap-tured
with all the stores.
About the last of July, Colonel Sumter with the South
Carolina refugees, and Colonel Irwin with the North
Carolina troops advanced to the attack of Rocky Mount
while Major Davie was to make a diversion to engage
the attention of the enemy at Hanging Rock. His de-tachment
consisted of 80 mounted men. In sight of the
enemy's camp he fell upon three corhpanies of their
mounted infantry returning from an excursion. Taken
by surprise they were literally cut to pieces almost before
10
they were aware of his presence. Sixty valuable horses
with their furniture and lOO rifles and muskets were
carried off by Davie in safety, without the loss of a
man. On August 5th, an attack was ordered upon Hang-ing
Rock by Colonel Sumter, who commanded in per-son
the 800 troops engaged in the expedition. Of these
500 were North Carolians commanded by Colonel Irwin
and Major Davie. The troops halted at midnight within
two miles of the enemy's camp, which they attacked
next morning at daylight. The British regulars were
commanded by Major Carden while among the aux-iliaries
were several tory regiments. One was composed
of tories from the upper Yadkin, commanded by Col-onel
Bryan (whom Davie afterwards defended when
tried for treason at Salisbury) and another mostly
of South Carolinians, but led by Colonel John Hamil-ton
of Halifax, who for many years after the war
was British Consul at Norfolk. The attack at first
was completely successful, but from lack of discipline
many of the troops plundered the camps and became in-toxicated.
A part of the British troops remaining intact
formed a hollow square and necessitated a retreat, which
^
however, was made in good order, Davie's corps cover-ing
the rear. The wounded were safely convoyed by
him to Charlotte, where by his foresight a hospital had
been established. It is worthy of note that on this ride
to the attack at Hanging Rock by Davie's side rode as
guides conversant with the roads and of undoubted
courage and patriotism,- two country lads—brothers, re-spectively
aged 15 and 13 years. The younger of the
two was destined to see many another field of carnage
and his name has filled long and well the sounding trump
of fame—Andrew Jackson. Long years after, in the re-tirement
of the Hermitage he said that Davie was the
best soldier he had ever known and that his best lessons
in the art of war had been learned from him.
n
On Davie's return from Charlotte he hastened to the
general rendezvous of Gates' Army at Rugely's Mills.
On August i6th, while hastening to join General Gates
at Camden and ten miles from the battle field Major
Davie met the defeated army with the General leading
the retreat. He ordered Davie to fall back on Charlotte
who replied that his men had formed the acquaintance of
Tarleton's Legion and did not fear to meet them again.
He continued his course towards the battle-ground,
meeting the flying fragments of the routed army. He
secured several wagons loaded with clothing and medi-cine
which had been abandoned. With great- thought-fulness
he immediately sent an officer to notify Colonel
Sumter of the great disaster which had befallen our arms.
He reached Sumter that evening, who at once began
his retreat along the west bank of the Catawba, towards
the up country. Not taking sufficient precaution, how-ever,
Sumter was surprised on the i8th by Tarleton at
Fishing Creek, and his entire command of 800 men was
captured or put to flight with the total loss of all his ar-tillery,
arms and baggage. Col. Sumter himself, who
was asleep under a w^agon w^hen the attack was made,
barely escaped and the next day reached Davie's camp
at Charlotte alone, riding on horseback, without saddle
or bridle. The tidings carried consternation into the
fragments of Gates' army w^hich had rallied there, and in
a few moments Davie and his command w^ere the only
force left in front of the enemy. Instead of retiring he
boldly advanced to the Waxhaws and found that the en-emy
had fallen back to Camden.
On the 5th of September, 1780, Davie was appointed
by Governor Nash, Colonel Commandant of Cavalry in
the Western District of North Carolina with instructions
to raise a regiment. When he had collected onh' about
seventy men, with that force and two small compatiies of
12
riflemen commanded by Major Geo. Davidson he took
post at Providence, twenty-five miles from the British
camp. Cornwallis, after resting at Camden till the first
week in September, had advanced to the Waxhaws forty
miles below Charlotte, while the fragments of the Amer-ican
army were slowly gathering at Hillsboro, 200 miles
distant. South Carolina was w^holly subjugated and North
Carolina had not recovered from the shock of Gates' de-feat.
Under these circumstances Colonel Davie, with
unprecedented boldness, with a command not exceeding
150 men all told, on the 20th of September turning the
right flank of the British Army by a circuitous march fell
upon 300 or 400 of the enemy at Wahab's plantation.
The attack was made at daylight. The surprise was
complete.
The enemy left fifteen or twenty dead on the field and
had some forty wounded. Davie got off safely with the
captured horses and had only one man wounded. The
enemy at once caused the farm buildings which belonged
to Captain Wahab, then a volunteer with Davie, to be
laid in ashes. Davie brought off ninety-six horses and
their furniture and 120 stand of arms and arrived in
camp the same afternoon, having marched sixty miles in
less than twenty-four hours, including the time employed
in seeking and beating the enemy. That evening Gen's
Sumner and Davidson arrived at his camp with their force
of 1000 badly equipped militia.
On the 24th of September the American patrols gave
notice that the force of the enemy was in motion on the
Steele Creek road, leading to Charlotte. Gen's Sumner
and Davidson retreated by Phifers on the nearest road to
Salisbury. Colonel Davie, with 150 mounted men and
some volunteers under Maj. Joseph Graham, was left
alone in front of the British army, and he was ordered to
observe the enemy and skirmish with his advance. On
13
the evening and night of the 25th he took a number of
prisoners and at midnight took up his position at Char-lotte,
seVen miles from the spot where Earl Cornwallis
had encamped. Early on the 26th his patrols were
driven in by the enemy's light troops and in a few mo-ments
the legion and light infantry were seen advancing,
followed by the whole army. Davie was reinforced in
the night by a few volunteers under Maj. Joseph Graham.
Charlotte was then a village of about twenty houses,
built on two streets, which crossed each others at right
angfles. At their intersection stood the court house.
Colonel Davie dismounted one company and stationed it
under the court house where they were protected by a
stone wall. The other two companies were advanced
about eighty yards and posted behind some houses and
gardens. The legion formed at a distance of three hun-dred
yards with a front to fill the street. On sounding
the charge the enemy's cavaly advanced at full gallop,
but at sixty yards from the court house the Americans
opened fire and drove them back with great precipitation
A second and third charge had the same result. But
being outflanked by the legion infantry Davie withdrew
his companies in good order, successively covering each
other and retreated on the Salisbury road. The enemy
followed with great caution and respect for some distance,
when they at length ventured to charge the small rear
guard. In this charge Lieutenant'Locke and four pri-vates
were killed and Major Graham and five privates
wounded. The coolness and skill of Davie in this ever
memorable combat in which, with a mere handful of men,
he held the whole British Army for hours at bay and
drove back repeatedly its best troops and finally brought
off his command unbroken and in good order, stamp him
as a soldier of no ordinary capacity. He was at this time
twenty-four years of age. Gov. Graham says of him,
14
"he was prudent, vigilant, intrepid and skillful in his
movements against the enemy and with a charming pres-ence,
a ready eloquence and an undaunted spirit he was
among the young men of the day as Harry Percy 'to the
chivalry of England.'" He also terms him, "one of the
most accomplished and elegant gentleman of the revolu-tionary
race." Besides his abilities as a leader he was
an expert swordsman. It is said in "Gordon's Anec-dotes
of the Revolution" that he had slain more men in
personal encounters in battle than any man in the army.
The next day, after the brilliant affair at Charlotte,
Col. Davie joined the army at Salisbury where recruits
having come in and Col. Taylor from Granville having
joined him, his force consisted of 300 mounted infantry
and a few dragoons. Gen's Sumner and Davidson con-tinued
their retreat across the Yadkin while Davie re-turned
towards Charlotte, where he so vexed the British
by cutting off the forage parties and beating up their ad-vanced
posts that Cornwallis began to feel great distress
for want of forage and supplies. (Tarleton's Campaigns
184). The British officer declared he had "found a rebel
in every bush outside his encampment." On October 7
occurred the disastrous defeat of Ferguson at King's
Mountain, and on the night of October 14, Cornwallis
began his retreat to South Carolina, followed by Davie,
who harassed his rear and captured part of his baggage.
On the 19th the British crossed the Catawba at Land's
Ford and completely evacuated the State of North Caro-lina.
When Gen. Greene took command of the Southern
Army in December 1780 he and Col. Davie met for the
first time. The Commissary Department became vacant
by the resignation of Col. Thomas Polk. The subsistence
of the army had become very difficult and Col. Polk de-clared
that it had become impossible. Gen. Greene
having formed a high estimate of Col. Davie's abilities,
15
earnestly and in most flattering terms solicited him to re-linquish
his hopes of brilliant service in the field and ac-cept
the vacant office. At the call of patriotism he
abandoned the tempting career which lay before him and
assumed the not less important but more unpleasant and
arduous duties of a station which offered no distinctions.
Gen. Greene had himself set the example, having relin-quished
a brilliant career in the field to assume for years
the duties of Quarter-Master General of the Army. Col.
Davie assumed the duties of his new post in January 1781,
and continued with the army for the next five months.
Hardly any combination of circumstances could exist
presenting greater difficulties to the Commissary of an
army than those under which he began. With a depre-ciated,
almost worthless currency, and an exhausted
country his only resource was to receive from the willing
and extort from the reluctant such means of subsistence
as they possessed, a service requiring promptness and
vigor among the disaffected and skill and discretion
among the friendly. These duties were well performed
and while they make no display on the page of history
their efficient discharge was more really useful to the
cause and contributed more to the success of the army
than the most brilliant services of the most brilliant offi-cer
in the field. In that capacity he was present in the
memorable battle at this place. Though he had, of
course, no command he was a watchful observer of all
the movements of the fight and distinguished himself by
his efforts to rally the broken ranks and bring them again
into the field. After Judge Schenck's vivid description
of this battle it would be a twice told tale to recount its
incidents. It may be well to recall, however, that
Eaton's Brigade was composed of men from Warren,
Franklin, Nash, Halifax and Northampton Counties,
while Butler's men were from the present Counties of
Wake, Durham, Orange, Alamance, Vance, Granville,
Person and Caswell. No race o( people has changed less
by infiltration of foreign immigraton. It is in warp and
woof the same it was a hundred years ago. 'Those who
know them well, know that they are "the blue hen's own
chickens" and it is not to be believed (if all other proof
was wanting) that men of that stock ever left any fair
field of fight in a body save in honor.
It was here that Col. Davie, seeing the veteran ist
Maryland permit the enemy to approach to close quarters,
while it remained apparently inert and impassive, ex-claimed
with great emotion, "Great God! is it possible
Col. Gunby will surrender himself and his whole Regi-ment
to the British.?" He had scarce spoken when the
command having been given, their fire, like a sheet of
flame, swept off the enemy's first line. This was followed
up by a bayonet charge from Gunby. The hostile lines
became so intermingled and the moment so critical that
Cornwallis, to save himself, caused his cannon to open
upon the mass of struggling men and swept off friend and
foe alike. This he did against the remonstrance of Gen.
O'Hara, who was lying wounded on the ground and
whose men were thus being destroyed at short range by
the cannon of their own army.^
Col. Davie continued with the army and was present at
Hobkirk's Hill on April 25th, at the evacuation of Camden
and the siege of Ninety-Six. While the army lay before
Ninety-Six, Gen. Greene found it necessary to send him
as a confidential messenger to the Legislature of North
Carolina to represent to that body the wants of his army
*NOTE.—At Toulon in 1793, this Gen. O'Hara commanded. It was there that Napo-leon
Bonaparte, then Lieut. Colonel of Artillery, first displayed his military genius.
He detected, and caused to be seized, the point which would necessitate the evacua-tion
of the city by the British. Gen. O'Hara at the head of 3 000 men made an assault
by night to reco'ver it. In this O'Hara was wounded and captured and Bonaparte
himself received a bayonet wound in the thigh. The assault being repulsed Toulon
was evacuated and the career of Napoleon began. Sir Walter Scott savs: 'On that
night of conflagraition, tears and blood the st;ir of Napoleon first rose in the ascendant
and though it shone over many a scene of terror ere it set it may be doubted if it ever
saw one more dreadful."
^7
and that his almost sole reliance for assistance was from
them. Col. Davie's knowledge of the members and tact
were such that he procured a most generous contribution
by the General Assembly of men and supplies. The exi-gencies
of the service and the equipment of the new
levies required him to remain in North Carolina, and in
July, 1781, he entered on his duties as Commissary Gen-eral
of this State, which post he filled till the end of the
war. The finances of the State were in a desperate con-dition,
and the country was well nigh exhausted by the
requisitions of both hostile and friendly armies, and be-sides,
supplies had to be dispatched to our troops operat-ing
in South Carolina. No duties could be more arduous
or more admirably performed than those which fell to
Col. Davie's lot at this stage of the war. Transporta-tion
was lacking, even for the supplies which could be
obtained. The future seemed uncertain as to everything.
No post could more sorely have tried the patience of any
man. It argues a versatility of talents for a brilliant
cavalry officer to execute with patience the duties of
such a station, and a rare self denial to lay aside the op-pDrtunities
of distinction for the exactions of so wearying
and humdrum a post. To add to other troubles, he had
to deal, during the year 178 1, with three different Gov-ernors
of entirely different views and dispositions. Gov.
Nash had resigned in disgust at the proceedings of the
Legislature; Gov. Burke had been taken prisoner and
Gov. Martin completed the year. So feeble at times was
the support of the Government that some of the most
pressing supplies were procured by Davie on his own
credit. Complex and numerous as were his accounts,
when he laid down his office he invited the severest Leg-islative
scrutiny, but no objection to them could be found.
The war being over Col. Davie resumed the practice
of his profession in February 178^3. About the same time
i8
he married Miss Sarah Jones, the daug-htcr of Gen. Allen
Jones, of Northampton, and niece of Willie Jones, of
Halifax, and settled in the latter town as his place of fu-ture
residence. It was at that time practically the capital
of the State. The sessions of the General Assembly had
been more frequently held at that place, and it was there
that most of the executive business of the State was
transacted.
He was a brilliant advocate, and possessed a natural
aptitude for the practice of law. The State at that time
was divided into seven Judicial Districts: Halifax, New
Berne, Wilmington, Edenton, Hillsboro, Salisbury and
Morganton. To these, in 1787, Fayetteville was added.
The Superior Courts were held only* at these places, and
not as now at a Court House in each County. Colonel
Davie took the circuit and attended in turn all the Supe-rior
Courts of the State, except that held at Morganton.
An examination of the dockets shows that' he soon
commanded a leading practice in all these courts. At
some places and at some terms the dockets show that he
appeared without exception on one side or the other of
every civil case upo*n the docket. After the suspension
of business for so many years the dockets were large too.
His practice was very lucrative and he quickly accumu-lated
a large estate.
An examination of our published reports shows numer-ous
cases of importance in which he was counsel. Prob-ably
the most important were Hamilton vs. Eaton, i N.
C. 84, which held the State Confiscation Act repealed by
the U. S. Treaty of Peace with England, and Bayard vs.
Singleton, i N. C, 42, which was the first case in Amer-ica
which asserted the power and duty of the courts to
declare an act of the Legislature unconstitutional. It
also held the confiscation acts against the late tories in-valid.
Iredell, Johnston and Davie appeared for the sue-
^9
cessfill plaintiff, and Moore and Nash for the defendant.
With the chivah-y of his nature it was most natural
that when the tory, Colonel Bryan, with whom he had so
often crossed swords, was arraigned and tried at Salisbury
in 17S2 for treason, Col. Davie was one of the counsel
who conducted his defense. In this he' displayed a cour-age
of the forum no less brilliant and commendable than
his conduct in the field. Indeed Davie, thouc!"h the \'ouno:-
est, became in fact the principal counsel. Excitement
ran so high that no lesser favorite than "the hero of
Charlotte" could command attention. Bryan was con-victed
with several others, and was sentenced to be hung
the 14th of April, 1782, but was pardoned and exchanged.
Judge Murphy of the Superior Court of North Carolina
who had the opportunity of judging and whose opinion is
of high value, says, " Davie took Lord BoHngbrook for
his model and applied himself with so much diligence to
the study of his master that literary men could easily
recognize his lofty and flowing style. He was a tall, ele-gant
man in his person; graceful and commanding in his
manners. His voice was mellow and adapted to the ex-pression
of every passion. His style was magnificent
and flowing. He had a greatness of manner in public
speaking which suited his style and gave his speeches an
imposing effect. He was a laborious sti^dent and a'-
ranged his discourses with care and wdien the subject
suited his genius poured forth a torrent of eloquence that
astonished and delighted his audience. They looked
upon him w-ith delight, listened to his long harmonious
periods, caught his emotions, and indulged that ecstac}' of
feeling which fine speaking and powerful eloquence can
alone produce. He is certainly to be ranked among the first
orators whom the American nation has produced." It is
said of him, with probably small exaggeration, that dur-ing
15 years while he was at the bar there was not a cap-
20
ital trial in North Carolina in which he was not retained
for the defense. Eminent as he was it was not for the
lack of worthy competitors. James Iredell and Alfred
Moore, successively Justices of the Supreme Court of the
United States, Francois Xavier Martin, after Chief Justice
of Louisiana, and Judge John Haywood, afterwards of
Tennessee, and many others were his contemporaries.
His brief books, some of which are still in existence, are
models of neatness and care and show a most careful
summary of the evidence and citation of authority in
each case. Among his law students were Governor and
U. S. Senator David Stone, Mr. Justice Daniel, of our
Supreme Court and many others who became distinguished
men. Judge Daniel said of him that he was the best
lawyer and most accomplished man he had ever known.
It is stated of him in comparison with his great legal
rival, John Haywood, that while the latter carefully pre-pared
every point, Davie would seize the strong points of
the case and throw his whole strength upon them. In
this he seems to have retained the experience and in-stincts
of his soldier life. As a characteristic of his ele-gant
tastes and attention to details it is said that an ex-amination
of his correspondence shows that his letters
were invariably written upon gilt edge paper.
When the Convention was called to meet at Philadel-phia
in May, 1787, which formed our present Federal
Constitution, he was elected one of the delegates. The
others were the then Governor Richard Caswell, Ex-Gov.
Alexander Martin, Richard Dobbs Spaight, who, like
Davie himself, was subsequently Governor, William
Blount, afterwards U. S. Senator and Hugh Williamson,
afterwards a member of Congress and a historian. Gov.
Caswell did not attend. Col. Davie was the junior mem-ber
of the delegation, being then, notwithstanding his
distinguished career as a soldier and his high standing at
21
the bar, not yet 31 }"ears of age. Still his eloquence and
influence made a decided impression upon the Conven-tion.
The Constitution all through is the result of a com-promise.
But the critical question was the equal repre-sentation
of each State in the Senate. Upon this it
seemed likely the Convention would be dissolved. The
large States were firm for proportional representation.
With the smaller States an equal voice in the Senate was
a si?ie qua noii. On that question North Carolina voted
with the other large States against the demands of the
smaller States and this made the vote a tie, as Georgia
on purpose evenly divided her vote. The friends of the
Constitution, fearing a disruption, referred the question to
a Committee composed of one from each State. Davie
was the member of the Committee from North Carolina.
When the Committee made its report, Davie, acting for
North Carolina, gave her vote with the smaller States
and thus by one majority was equal representation in the
Senate secured. Without it the Convention would doubt-less
have adjourned after a useless session. The Con-stitution
without 1 hat wise concession could not have been
adopted, and if adopted by the Convention its ratification
by the smaller States could not have been expected.
This act was certainly against the wishes of his own State,
then the 3rd, in point of population, in the Confederacy,
ranking next after Virginia and Massachusetts and ahead
of New York. It was also apparently against the inter-ests
of his State, but the act was that of a Statesman and
should be recalled to his lasting honor. It wa/ls a critical
moment, when a narrow minded man in his place, timid
of responsibility and fearful of his own popularity at
home would have prevented or postponed for many years
the American Union. He remained in Philadelphia till
the deliberations of the Convention were virtually over
and the adoption of the Constitution had become certain.
22
Then, in obedience to his duty to his clients, as the fall
circuit was about to begin, he left for home. Hence it is
that his name does not appear among those appended to
that instrument. The Constitution being the work of
many hands and containing so many alterations and
amendments would naturally have been rough and ill-joined,
containing a variety of styles. It is worthy of
note that the convention considerately referred it to a
committee of one—Governeur Morris—an accomplished
scholar, to make changes " of form not of substance."
Under his hand it was polished and put in shape, and
hence the uniform flow and regularity oT its language.
But the work was not yet done. The Constitution was
yet to be ratified by the Conventions of the several States.
When the North Carolina Convention met at Hillsboro
July 21, 1788, a formidable opposition was arrayed against
its adoption, headed by Willie Jones, David Caldwell,
Judge Spencer and others. The friends of adoption were
led by James Iredell, a remarkably able man, and Col.
Davie aided by Spaight, McLaine, Steele and others.
The adoption of the Constitution was at that time de-feated.
After the adoption subsequently of the Federal
Constitution by North Carolina, President Washington
tendered the appointment of United States District
Judge to Davie, who declined it. Col. Stokes was ap-pointed
but soon dying, John Sitgreaves was appointed,
probably through Davie's influence. He had married his
wife's sister.
By his wife he had acquired a valuable plantation near
Halifax, which he took pleasure in cultivating and he
evinced a deep interest in introducing there a better sys-tem
of farming. His enterprise and public spirit pro-cured
the organization of a company for the proposed
drainage of Lake Scuppernong.
A friend of education, in 1786 he obtained from the
23
General Assembly the charter of Warrenton Academy
and had himself, with Willie Jones, Thomas Person, Ben-jamin
Hawkins and other prominent men named as the
Board of Trustees. He was chosen repeatedly, except
when his private business constrained him to decline an
election, to represent the borough of Halifax in the
House of Commons. He served thus in the years 1786,
1787, 1789, 1791, 1793, I794i 1795 and 1798. He was the
real founder of the University of North Carolina and is
so styled in the Journal of 18 10 of that institution and
well deserved to be so called. Judge Murphy bears this
testimony: " I was present in the House of Commons
when Davie addressed that body (in 1789) for a loan of
money to erect the buildings of the University and al-though
more than 30 years have elapsed I have the most
vivid recollections of the greatness of his manner and
the power of his eloquence upon that occasion. In the
House of Commons he had no rival and on all questions
before that body his eloquence was irresistable." He
procured the Act of Incorporation to be passed in 1789,
and other aid, and was always a fostering friend.
The opposition to all the measures in favor of the Uni-versity
was great. The cry of '• economy" and the fear
expressed that the institution was one step towards the
founding of an aristocracy made it difficult to carry any
measure through. Gifted with less tact, with less elo-quence
or with less popularity Davie must have failed.
The institution is no less a monument also to his public
spirit, boldness and foresight. He was a member of the
first Board of Trustees. The selection of a site for the
University, the superintendence of the erection of the
buildings, the choice of professors, the arrangement of a
course of studies, the adoption of regulations, the main-tenance
of discipline engaged his personal and active at-tention.
Truly he might have exclaimed ''Excgi monu
24
mentuin aere pcrennins!' The course of studies adopted
at Davie's instance in 1795 was the "optional" system
which now generally obtains. In this he anticipated the
course of other colleges full fifty years. When Dr. David
Caldwell was elected President this was set aside and the
old iron bound curriculum was adopted and remained in
force 80 years.
On December 9, 1787, in the town of Tarboro, the Free
Masons of this State organized the Grand Lodge of
North Carolina. At that meeting many of the most dis-tinguished
men of the State attended, Col. Davie among
them. Gov. Johnston was elected the first Grand Master
of North Carolina, and Gov. Caswell the second Grand
Master. Davie was elected Grand Master in December
1792 and was successively re-elected for seven years. In
that capacity he laid the corner stone of the University,
October 12, 1793, (the old East building), and on April
14, 1798 he laid the corner stone of the old South Build-ing
at the same place.
The project of a digest of the laws was brought forward
by him, and the appointment of Judge Iredell, the ac-complished
jurist, to do the work was made at his sug-gestion.
The cession of the territory which now forms
the State of Tennessee was effected mainly by his influ-ence.
In 1 791 he was appointed by the Legislature one
of three Commissioners to establish the unsettled part of
the boundary between this State and South Carolina. He
was again elected for the same purpose in 1796 and again
in 1803. None of these commissions however were suc-cessful.
In 1794 he was commissioned by Gov. Spaight to be
Major General of the 3rd State Division in view of the
likelihood of war with France. By act of Congress the
24th of June, 1797, Congress directed an embodiment of
troops from the several States. The number to be raised
25
by this State under the act was 7,268 and in September
of that year he was appointed by Gov. Ashe Major Gen-eral
to command this detachment. As matters became
more serious Congress in May, 1798, authorized a Provis-ional
Army of the U. S. of io,cxx) men, and in this he
was appointed a Brigadier General by President Adams,
July 17, 1798, and was confirmed by the Senate July 19th.
Of this army Washington was made Commander in Chief
and he, in effect, committed to Gen. Davie the selection
of the officers for that part of the troops which should be
raised in this State In the same year Gen. Davie pre-pared
a system of cavalry tactics which was adopted by
the Legislature and ordered to be printed. A copy of
this is now in our State Library.
Gen. Davie came out of the war with the first military
reputation in the State, and these successive appoint-ments
so many years after prove that North Carolina still
turned to him as her greatest soldier.
Just at this time, singularly enough, when in the re-ceipt
of high honors, State and National, his election for
the borough of Halifax was first endangered. The cir-cumstance
is thus stated in a private letter from that
town, written in August, 1798: "The 'true whigs,' as
they styled themselves, dined together under the oaks
and toasted Mr. Jefferson. The other party, who were
called 'aristocrats,' ate and drank in the house on entirely
different principles. Gen. Davie dined in the house with
the 'aristocrats.' The 'true whigs' took offense at this
and resolved to oppose his election, and it was only with
much address that they were kept quiet." The writer
adds: " If any person had had the impudence to dispute
the election Gen. Davie would certainly not have been
returned. The rabble which in all places is the majority,
would have voted against him."
He took his seat when the Legislature met. By that
26
body—-the then constitutional mode—he was, on joint
ballot, elected Governor of the State December 4th, 1798,
over Benjamin Williams, (afterwards Governor), and was
inaugurated December 7th. Nothing of special note took
place during his tenure of the office. President Adams
appointed an embassy to treat with the French Directory,
consisting of Mr. Murray, then our minister to Holland,
Chief Justice Ellsworth and Patrick Henry. The latter
having declined on the ground of age and ill health, on
June I, 1799, Gov. Davie was appointed in his stead. On
September 10 he resigned the office of Governor, and on
the 22nd left Halifax to join Mr. Ellsworth at Trenton.
At his departure the people of Halifax and vicinit}^ pre-sented
him with a complimentary address, which was
written by a political adversary and signed by large num-bers
of the same party.
On November 3, 1799, Messrs. Ellsworth and Davie
embarked in the Frigate United States, from Newport, R.
I. Uncertain as to the changeable form of Government
in France they touched at Lisbon, which they reached
the 27th of November. They left the 21st of December,
but being driven out of their course by a storm they put
into Corunna the nth of January, 1800, which they left
by land on the 27th of January, and on February 9, at
Burgos, in Spain, they met a courier from Talleyrand,
the French Minister, inviting them, on the part of Bona-parte,
who had become First Consul, to proceed to Paris,
which place they reached on the 2nd of March. These
dates will show the vast difference which less than a cen-tury
has made in the modes of travelling and the trans-mission
of intelligence. On April 8, the Commissioners
were received with marked politeness by the First Con-sul.
Napoleon having left for Italy on the famous cam-paign
of Marengo, the negotiations dragged till his re-turn.
On September 30, 1800, the treaty between the
27
United States and France was signed by our Commis-sioners
and by Joseph Bonaparte, Roederer and Fleurieu
on the part of France. The conclusion of the treaty was
celebrated with eclat at Morfontaine, the country seat of
Joseph Bonaparte, the First Consul and a brilliant staff
attending. One who was then in Paris writes: "A man of
his (Davie's) imposing appearance and dignified deport-ment
could not fail to attract especial attention and remark
wherever he went. I could not but remark that Bona-parte,
in addressing the American legation at his levees
seemed for the time to forget that Governor Davie was
second \n the Commission, his attention being more par-ticularly
directed to him." In the brilliant circles of the
nascent Empire of Napoleon he was distinguished by his
elegance and his popular manners. His sojourn in Paris
was very agreeable to him. He was an accomplished
linguist and spoke French and Spanish fluently.
In the fall of that year Gov. Davie returned directly
home. Chief Justice Ellsworth calling by London was
presented at Court and Mr. Murray returned to the
Hague. It is significant that the very day after this
treaty w^as signed, France, by the treaty of St. Ildefonso,
re-acquired Louisiana from Spain, which it so soon after
sold to the United States.
On his return home Davie was solicited to become a
candidate for Congress in 1801, but his private affairs by
reason of his long absence required his attention and he
declined. Willis Alston then a member of the same po-litical
party was elected. In June of that year President
Jefferson appointed Gov. Davie head of a commission
with Gen. Wilkinson and Benjamin Hawkins to negotiate
with the Creeks and other Indians for further cession of
lands. This he declined for the same reason he had re-fused
an election to Congress. In 1802 he was appointed
by President Jefferson a Commissioner on the part of the
28
United States in the treaty to be made between North
CaroHna and the Tuscaroras, most of whom had moved
from this State, but had retained a valuable landed inter-est
in Bertie County, He met the agents of the State
and the Chiefs of the Indians at Raleigh, and the treaty
was signed December 4th, 1802, by virtue of which King
Blount* and. the remainder of the tribe removed to New
York in June, 1803. In the Spring of 1803, Alston hav-ing
gone over to the opposite political party. Gen. Davie
was again solicited by his friends to become a candidate
for Congress. He accepted the nomination but declined
to make any canvass. He was charged with being an
aristocrat and with being opposed to Mr. Jefferson, whose
prestige was then all powerful. He was defeated at the
polls.
He had lost his wife not long after his return from
France. This, together with his political defeat, deter-mined
him to withdraw altogether from public life. In
November, 1805, he removed to an estate he possessed at
Tivoli, near Landsford, in S. C, just across the line from
Mecklenburg County, in this State. Here he lived in
dignified ease and leisure.
Many men, after the buffetings of a stormy or a busy
life, have in like manner felt the need of rest before they
go hence. It was thus that the Emperor, Charles the
Fifth, at Juste and Wolsey, who had "sounded all the
depths and shoals of honor," at Leicester Abbey, had
sought to put a space of contemplation between the
active duties of life and the grave. His country, how-ever,
did not forget Gen. Davie. During the second war
with Great Britain President Madison appointed him a
Major General in the U. S. Army and he was confirmed
by the Senate the 2nd of March, 1813. But "time steals
fire from the mind as vigor from the limbs." Though not
an old man. Gen. Davie's early campaigns had told upon
*NOTE.—A descendant of King Blount is at present King of the Sandwich Islands.
29
him. The sword which twenty-five years before had al-most
leapt of itself from the scabbard w^asnow constrained
to hang idly by his side and he declined the appointment.
Gen. Harrison (afterwards President) was appointed in
his stead and fought the battle of the Thames, October
5, 1813, in which Tecumseh was slain. The next year he
in turn resigned and Gen. Andrew Jackson was appointed
to succeed him and the battle of New Orleans followed
on January 8, 181 5.
Gen. Davie's seat at Tivoli on the Catawba was the re-sort
of many of the Revolutionary characters of the
State. In their journies by private conveyance to Vir-ginia
or the North, the custom was to arrange to spend a
day or two there with him where he kept open house for
his friends and sitting under an immense oak from
which there was a view of miles of the Catawba, they
fought over the war together or discussed the work-ings
of the new government and the constitution they
had established. This was all the more interesting as
much of his campaigning had taken place on and around
this very spot. In this connection it is interesting to state
that after his retirement to Tivoli he was much sought
after and engaged in drawing wills. He drew some of
the most famous wills in that State—indeed it is said all
the wills in that part of it in which he resided—not one of
which except his own was ever assailed. In this respect
he had the fortune of Sugden Lord St. Leonards, Gov.
Tilden and many other famous lawyers. The contest
over Gov. Davie's will has just been settled by a decision
of the Supreme Court of the United States filed the 28th
of March of this year (1892) in the case oi Bcdon vs.
Davii\ 144 U. S. 142, a very interesting case.
His correspondence and other materials for history
must have been very large and. very valuable. It w^as
from his papers that the copy of the Mecklenburg Decla-
30
ration of May 20th, 1775, was procured which is known
as the "Davie Copy." Unfortunately all his family pa-pers
and all the historical material which had been care-fully
preserved by him for publication at some future time,
were destroyed during Sherman's raid. The banks of the
Catawba were said to have been strewn with them and
nothing of the collection now remains.
In retirement he displayed his accustomed public spirit
by introducing improved methods of farming and mainly at
his instance a State Agricultural Society in South Caro-lina
was formed, of which he was the first President. By
his practice at the bar he had accumulated a large estate
which he dispensed with liberality and hospitality. When
the end came he met it with the firmness of a soldier.
His sun of life went down in a cloudless sky. He passed
away the i8th of November, 1820 in the 65th year of his
age.
"The hero lies still, while the dew drooping willows
Like fond weeping mourners lean over his grave.
The lightnings may flash and the loud cannon rattle,
He heeds not, he hears not, he's free from all pain;
He sleeps his last sleep he has fought his last batt^i-
No sound can wake him to glory again."
He was buried at Waxhaw Church, Lancaster County,
S. C, just across the Catawba river from his Tivoli plan-tation.
The following modest and truthful inscription on
his tomb is said to be from the pen of his friend. Gov.
Gaston, of South Carolina:
31
In this grave are deposited the remains of
WILLIAM R. DAVIE.
The Soldier, Jurist, Statesman and Patriot.
, In the Glorious War for
AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE
He fought among- the foremost of the Brave.
As an advocate at the Bar,
He was diligent, sagacious, zealous,
Jncorruptibly Honest, of Commanding Eloquence.
In the Legislative Hall
He had no superior in enlarged vision
And profound plans of Policy.
Single in his ends, varied in his means, indefatigable
In his exertions.
Representing his Nation in an important Embassy,
He evinced his characteristic devotion to her interests
And manifested a peculiar fitness for Diplomacy.
Polished in manners, firm in action.
Candid without imprudence, wise above deceit.
A true lover of his Country, "^
Always preferring the People's good to the People's favor.
Though he disdained to fawn lor office,
He filled most of the stations to which Ambition might aspire,
And declining no Public Trust,
Enobled whatever he accepted
By true Dignity and Talent
Which he brought into the discharge of its functions.
A Great Man in an age of Great Men.
In life he was admired and beloved by the virtuous and the wise.
In death he has silenced calumny and caused envy to mourn.
He was born in Edinburgh 1756,
And died in South Carolina in 1820.
*A mistake.
32
And so the record ends and his life work was done.
" The good knight is dust,
His good sword is rust,
His soul is with the saints, we trust."
Justly does his epitaph style him, "A great man in an age
great men," for as a soldier he was the trusted compan-
•ion of Greene, as a lawyer the peer of Haywood, Iredell
and Moore, as a statesman a leader among the framers
of the Federal Constitution, as a diploinat Talle}^rand
obtained no advantage over him and by personal inter-course
he won the friendship of Washington, the confidence
of Jefferson, the esteem of Napoleon and the warm ad-miration
of Andrew Jackson. A life whose circumfer-ence
touched these points could fill no small space in the
public eye.
North Carolina does herself honor in remembering her
patriotic and illustrious son. One of the fairest Counties
of the State, seated in the fertile valley of the Yadkin
preserves his name to future times. But no storied shaft
or sculptured bust presents the record of his fame or the
lineaments of his countenance.
The cause for which the men of 1776 sacrificed them-selves
was a grand one. The world has not known a
nobler. It was one of those epochs which mark a dis-tinct
advance in the progress of the human race. Its ef-fects
were far reaching. Then was established that right
of self government which has placed 44 stars on our flag
and beneath its folds 75 millions of freemen and a terri-tory
extending over near no degrees of longitude and
almost 50 degrees of latitude. Great Britain has profited
by the lesson then taught and has established and re-tained
an enormous colonial possession extending into
every quarter of the globe by promptly granting as soon
as asked, and oft times before it has been demanded, the
very rights for which these colonies asked in vain and by
33
the denial of which she lost this country. All of Amer-ica,
North and South, has followed our example. France
immediately felt the impulse. Though her first revolu-tion
was marked with excesses and though betrayed and
thwarted in her wishes in i8i5,in 1830 and again in 1851,
w^ith sublime perseverance at every opportunity she has
returned to her first love, and since 1870 has enjoyed self
government. But there is not time to enumerate the re-sults
produced everywhere by the success of the sons of
liberty in 1776, It is sufficient to say that there is no
country where it has not been felt and no people who
have not experienced its benefits. It is glory enough for
us when we recall the great aid North Carolina gave to
that struggle and the important part that the battlefield
now before us played in that grand contest.
But we must remember that important as was that
struggle and far reaching as its effects, the result was not
a finality. It was one of those upheavals which mark a
distinct phase of human progress. But other struggles
and other upheavals are as surely before us. In the life
of a people as in the life of the individual man there must
be either progress or decline. There is no political Gib-eon
upon which the sun of progress can pause for an
hour. It must be remembered that principles which are
now so undeniable as to be commonplace were bitterly
contested and by many despised prior to the successful
issue of our Revolutionary struggle. It must be reflected,
too, that there are principles now denied or derided, which
after the next great advance of the race will become ax-iomatic
in like manner. The man who lives only to
gratify his vanity and selfishness by amassing riches for
himself will go down, as he deserves, to the "vile dust
from whence he sprung unwept, unhonored and unsung."
But the soldiers of human progress, whether Washing-tons,
Jefifersons or the nameless heroes who fall by the
34
wayside or fill unmarked graves on the battlefield have
nobly fulfilled their duty and deserve an immortality of
fame and never ending gratitude. Nay more—they de-serve
to have their example not merely recounted on
battlefields already won, but followed on the new heights
yet to be won and upon which the successive battles of
progress must be fought. The contest may be a long
one and the road winds up hill all the way—aye, to the
very end. Washington, Franklin, Jefferson, Davie and
their compeers should remain in perpetual acclaim for
their fidelity and their courage in maintaining the cause
in their day and at the stage at which the contest had
then reached. They who wish to imitate their glory will
be the true heirs of their deeds and in their own times
and according to their opportunity will faithfully and un-falteringly
uphold, with the courage of the battlefield or
of the forum as the occasion may serve those principles
which shall best serve the glory of the State and
the greatest good of the greatest number of that peo-ple
among whom Providence has seen fit to cast
their lot. Humanity has triumphs yet to win; great
progress yet to make. Old foes abound but with new
faces. To those who have " stomach for the fight" there
are surely laurels yet to gain, and fields still to conquer.
The Revolution of 1688 in England was better and
therefore more lasting than that of Cromwell's time, as
that in turn had itself been more comprehensive than any
previous movement. Our own Revolution in 1776 far
outstripped in its importance to the human race the rev-olution
of 1688. The military successes of the war were
consolidated by the consumate statesmanship and patriot-ism
of the Constitution of 1787. But even that instru-ment,
grand as it was, was not perfect. It was amended
by the generation that made it. Other amendments have
since followed and others still will assuredly be made.
35
I cannot leave this* platform and this occasion without
saying some words to the future rulers of my country.
Young men-;—you who are to shape the near-at-hand
Twentieth Century, the heights are before you. Who of
you will comprehend the duties ot the hour; who of you
have the eagle eye to discover and the iron tenacity to
follow the paths by which the mountains which bar future
progress may be won? Who of you like the men of 1776
scorning contumely, giving your hours, your fortunes and
if need be your young lives to the work, will bring hu-manity
out upon a higher plane of progress. It is given
to no mortal man but yourself to syllable the noble
names among you which are not born to die—for each
one of you must make your own election of the pathway
that leads to the stars. God alone in his wisdom can
give you success.
My task is done. Honor to Davie and the men who
with him on this field periled life that we might be freer
and better and happier; and honor and fame to those of
this day, who, understanding the nobility of the self-sac-rifice
of these men, and catching their spirit, shall, as
God give them time and opportunity, so act that posteri-ty,
looking back, shall say of them that they likewise
came up to the full stature of these heroes of 1776.
36
Note.—The following memorandum of •C}eneial Davie's descen-dants
is furnished by one of them. It is typical of the times and
the hatred of the British that so accomplished a man as General
Davie should have named one of his sons after the -Indian tyrant,
Ali, simply because he was an enemy of Great Britain :
GENERAL DAVIE'S FAMILY.
1. Allen Jones, Major in the war 1812. His descendants:
1. Dr. William R. Davie, Surgeon Florida war, 1838.
His descendants—Colonel William R. Davie, Capt.
60th Ala. Reg't C. S. A.; John M. Davie and Mary
F. Woolf, Texas; Allen J. Davie, dec'd.
2. Allen J. Davie, Oregon, died leaxang several issue.
3. Sarah, m'd, first, H. B. DeSaussure; second, Burton,
Kentucky.
4. Rosa B. McKenzie, widow of John McKenzie, Louis-ville,
Ky.
5. Octavia, widow of Hudson, Louisville, Ky.
6. Mary Fraser, wife of Edward McCrady, Charleston,
S. C.
7. Thos. W. Davie, dec'd, leaving one son.
2. Hyder Ali, died leaving only one child—a daughter
—
Julia, married R. S. Bedon, fi'om whom numerous
descendants.
3. Mary Hayne, married Crockett, issue, Texas.
4. Sarah Jones, married Hon. Wm. F. DeSaussure, had
issue. Col. Wm. D. DeSaussure, Col. 15 S. C. Reg't,
killed Gettysburg, without issue. Mrs. DeSaussure
left numerous descendants through her daughters,
Mrs. Boykin and Mrs. Burroughs, of S. C.
5. Martha Rebecca, married Dr. C. B. Jones, left issue,
C. B. Jones, of Lancaster, S. C, and Mr. Fraser of
Charleston. Numerous descendants.
6. Frederick William Davie, died without issue.
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